


Solace

by CleopatraThe7th



Category: Glass (2019), Split (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Give Dennis a chance, Rating May Change, Trying to change the ending, Understanding, a little smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-12-18 09:58:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18247529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CleopatraThe7th/pseuds/CleopatraThe7th
Summary: AU where Dennis and the horde meet James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, who try to convince him not to unleash the beast. Dennis ends up in their reality, and they show him a world where he could actually be accepted.Too bad Dennis isn't great at bringing down his walls.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: this is my first AO3 work, so please let me know if I've missed any tags. Really, any feedback is appreciated. Also, I don't own the characters in this story!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis is startled by the arrival of two strangers.

Chapter 1: Arrival

 

Dennis sat at the table in the kitchen, methodically going over his plan. He had the spray can handy, had picked up a mask to protect him from the sleep inducing substance within the canister, and he knew his prey. Even though he had a few days (closer to 46 hours at this point – he had been counting the time), the meticulous man continued to evaluate the plan. Sitting there, in his perfectly pressed black slacks and charcoal button up shirt, Dennis tried to calm himself, assuring himself that it would work, that the Beast would make sure everything worked out.

 

This was for Kevin, and it was going to work.

 

It had to.

 

Running the plan over in his mind again, Dennis checked the watch at the inside of his wrist, knowing it was too early to leave for work, but yearning to be out of this dark kitchen, this drab existence, this hell of waiting.

 

**SLAM!**

Dennis’s head jerked up, the scowl that was never far from his face deepening. The sound had come from this level, the area that he had painstakingly made safe.

 

 _What was that?_ Patricia asked in his brain.

 

“I don’t know.” He muttered in response, blue eyes jumping around the room as he rose from the table. He was on high alert as he crept from the room, not bothering to grab a weapon. Dennis was the biggest and strongest of them all, and he knew he could take whatever was down here with him.

 

There was thumping now, from the boy’s room. It sounded like someone stumbling around in the dark, tripping over the toys that Hedwig inevitably failed to put away.

 

Squaring his jaw, Dennis approached the door to Hedwig’s room, and kicked it open harshly. No need to do it subtly if someone was trying to ruin their plans for the arrival of the Beast.

 

A tall, brown haired girl looked at him, large brown doe eyes filled with alarm and confusion. “J… James…? What are we doing here?” She wore a blousy top that showed off a generous view of milk white cleavage, and tight jeans.

 

Dennis didn’t answer. For all of the names living in this body, “James” wasn’t one of them, and he didn’t recognize the girl in front of him. She stood there, blinking at the light filtering in from the hallway behind him, and then reached past him casually to flick the switch that turned on the lights in the room. Dennis didn’t jump as she reached out, just wondered how she had known the location of the switch.

 

“James, if this is one of your weird jokes, then A+, gold star--” She began, but was interrupted by a groan from the corner near Hedwig’s window.

 

“I haven’t done anything…Who’re you talking to, love?”

 

Now Dennis felt his jaw drop.

 

The man in the corner, stood, rubbing a hand that was so familiar over the back of his head. The man’s hair was two inches longer than the closely shaved stubble on Dennis’s head, but the blue eyes that locked onto his own were the same that stared back at him from the mirror, whenever Dennis could bear to look into one. He was dressed in jeans and a Henley shirt, wearing them with a casual ease that Barry would’ve competed to affect. The eyes though… they were the sharp blue that could find a crumb on a sparkling floor. That was somehow the most shocking – to look into your own eyes and see them looking back with no recognition.

 

He was Dennis. Different, slightly, but the same. There was no doubt. Dennis was baffled by the not-quite mirror image of himself that was now staring back at him, mouth opening and brows furrowing in a look of confusion that Dennis could feel on his own face.

 

The girl in the center of the room had frozen when the double had spoken, and now she looked quickly between the two, hair lifting from her shoulders as she whipped her head between the two of them.

 

Dennis took a step forward, breaking the spell, and the girl gasped before taking a few hopping steps to the other man, who took her in his arms that were so like Dennis’s own without a second thought. Something deep in Dennis clenched at the image of his arms, wrapped around this girl, the jaw that Dennis shaved dutifully every morning now resting atop her brown head.

 

Clearing his throat, the man shifted so that the girl was behind him, raised his chin, and addressed Dennis in a voice clearly meant to soothe. “Hey, mate, not sure how we got here. Do you happen to have any idea why we’re back on this set? I thought they broke it down… years ago, honestly.”

 

Shaking his head to clear it, Dennis felt his control wavering, but he pushed Patricia back. He knew the old broad could take care of herself, but he didn’t know what this situation was, and he would handle it. He was the protector, after all.

 

“Is this a fan event?” The man asked, eyes never leaving Dennis’s.

 

Dennis rubbed a hand over his bristly hair, and took a deep breath to center himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How did you get in here?” At the back of his mind, Patricia prowled, curious.

 

“I fell… I was walking to the kitchen at James’s and I slipped, and I landed and it was dark… My ears popped…” the girl was answering him, and Dennis’s eyes flitted to hers before settling back on the blue ones that he knew so well.

 

“I got up from the couch too fast and got dizzy. I closed my eyes, and opened them here… after hitting my head on Hedwig’s end table.” The man said.

  
  
“How do you know that name?!” Dennis demanded, narrowing the distance between them with a few long strides. His heart was pounding – had the boy somehow brought them here to play, maybe before this?

 

 _I didn’t dooo it, Mr. Dennis_ , came Hedwig’s whine in his brain. _I’m scared!_

Dennis could feel the fear from the youngest alter curl his stomach, and he clamped down on the light, shutting everyone else from this situation. He. Would. Handle. It.

 

The man in the corner looked at Dennis, a small smile working at the edge of his lips, eyebrows now contracting, “Are you joking? I mean… that’s some killer Dennis cosplay. Really, it’s like looking in a mirror… I’m impressed. Is this a fan thing? Do you want me to sign something?”

 

Dennis found himself taking a step back when he heard his name. “I am Dennis. I don’t know how you know me, but explain. Now.”

 

“Oh god, James, does he think this is real?” the girl asked in a rushed whisper.

 

“No need for panic; it’s all ok. We’ll talk it out, and get out of here just fine.” The man said to her, still not taking his eyes off of Dennis. “My name’s James McAvoy. This is Anya Taylor-Joy. We were in ‘Split’ together, and ‘Glass’. I played you. Anya played Casey.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dennis put a hand to his temple, trying to control the growing headache caused by the others – not just Patricia or the boy, now he could feel more of the alters - trying to see what was going on.

 

“Okay, no worries. You’re Dennis, right? You have OCD, and a ‘proclivity to watch young girls dance naked’. You believe in the beast, and you, Patricia, and Hedwig are going to help him emerge to protect Kevin.” James had an earnest look on his face that made Dennis think of Barry. The way he rattled off the whole idea, as if it was old news, seeming to quote Dennis’s dark urges… it was unreal.

 

“How can you know that?” Dennis whispered. “How?”

 

“I told you… I _was_ you. In those movies. Now, let’s have a seat, maybe some tea, and talk this out, lad.”

 

“James…” The girl, Anya, tugged at his sleeve. “James, look. The books, James.”

 

“Little busy, sweetheart. What about the books?” James was clearly unwilling to look away from Dennis. Despite his calm voice, he was trying to maintain some peace and control in a situation with a dangerously delusional fan.

 

“No really, James, look. The books… remember, they were all props? Blank inside? These are real.”

 

Now James did turn to follow her eyes. Hedwig had left a book open on his desk, and a picture gracing the top of the page was visible above the start of a chapter.

 

“What?” James asked, picking up a closed book beside it, and flipping to a random page, which was covered in type.

 

Anya now held Dennis’s eyes with her soft brown ones. “You replaced the books on the set with real ones?”

 

“They’ve always been real. Why get the boy fake ones?” Dennis gritted his teeth, wondering why he was answering. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I will find out. I--”

 

His body soothed as Patricia swiftly stepped into the light, straightening up and dropping her chin in a disarming way, though her eyes stayed cold. “Hello, little ducks. Let us have a seat, shall we? It seems that we have much to discuss.”

 

“Oh shit, that was a great transition.” James said, his eyes going wide.

 

“Hmm. Shall we?” Patricia asked, raising an eyebrow and humming slightly at the unique compliment.

 

Without waiting for a response, Patricia turned and walked towards the kitchen, knowing that the two strangers would follow.

 

 


	2. Convinced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Anya try to show Patricia and Dennis that they are who they say they are.

Chapter 2: Convinced

 

Patricia sat at the table, smiling encouragingly at James and Anya as they entered the kitchen. She noted that they seemed to know their way around her home.

 

Clearing his throat, James pulled out a chair for Anya, then one for himself. Patricia quietly approved of the display of courtesy. So many young people these days had forgotten how to treat one another.

 

“Now, let’s try this again. Dennis just didn’t understand, and I do hate to watch him struggle. Explain yourselves… please.” The elder alter ignored the rankling of Dennis’s feelings at the back of her mind.

 

“Okay, like I said, we are James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. We are actors. Here, I can show you.” James reached into his pocket and pulled out a completely blank touch screen phone. He tapped it and clicked the buttons on the side, but nothing happened. The screen stayed black. “What the hell?” he muttered, continuing to poke at it.

 

“Here, let me.” Anya glanced at Patricia before pulling her own phone from her pocket, but that one was dead as well. No amount of tapping could resuscitate it. Putting on a shy smile, Anya asked, “You don’t happen to have a charger, do you? Micro USB?”

 

Patricia tutted. “And what would that do, if we got it charged?”

 

“Well, we could show you, you know, online. That we were in those _movies_ that you’re from.”

 

“And this is where you lost Dennis, my dears. We are real. People deny our existence, they mock us, and hurt us, but we are real.” Anya was fixed with a gaze so intense that she dropped her eyes to escape it.

 

“But that’s what I’m trying to tell you. You aren’t real. You’re… you’ve taken too much from our movies. I’ve acted as you. I don’t know how you look… _so much_ … like me, but that must’ve attributed to…whatever it is you’re thinking. I read you, from a script. I acted you.” James tried to explain again. “Let us charge our phones, or get online. I’ll show you… I can help you.”

 

“Dear, no one has ‘acted’ us. We are what we are.” A slight edge had crept into the stern alter’s voice.

 

“Okay, you know what? I’ll do this then. You’ve never met me before, yeah?” James inquired, looking at Patricia, who nodded, a polite smile fixed on her mouth.

 

James straightened up, rolled his shoulders back, and brought a hand to his chest. “ ‘Did you know,’” he began, in Patricia’s soft voice, fixing her blue eyes with his own, “ ‘that  a tiger has only thirty teeth? That’s twelve less than a dog. I thought that was a _fun fact_.’”

 

Patricia stared at him, aghast, but he wasn’t done. Shifting his face into a scowl, James crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. “ ‘They keep callin’ us the Horde. The others, you know? Miss Patricia and I, we are ridiculed. Now, we’re not perfect, but don’t deserve to be ridiculed.’”

 

He ignored the way his double’s face blanched, instead choosing to slouch into his chair and plaster a wide, toothy grin on his face. He fixed Patricia with an earnest expression, and happily quoted, “ ‘I just ate a hotdog.’”, the lisp of Hedwig heavy in the short sentence.

 

There was a pause, where no one moved, or even seemed to breathe. Anya’s doe eyes flitted from man to man, the only movement in the room as the two stared each other down.

 

Pursing her lips, Patricia stood suddenly from the table. James and Anya jumped up, and there was a tension in the air as Patricia nodded. “I don’t know how you can know us…. Fine, alright. I’ll give the light to Dennis, and we will see what you can find on your internet.” She held James’s eyes for a moment with her own, a small, wry smile twisting her face. “Prepare to be disappointed, I’d say.”

 

The smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. Dennis replaced the glasses on his face that Patricia had taken off at some point on her walk to the kitchen. He crossed his arms and looked at the two of them.

 

“C’mon.” he snapped, shoving past the girl _who smelled gently of flowers and was soft and warm and_ – Dennis shoved the thought forcefully from his mind as he lead them to the computer room, just outside the room where the sacred food would be kept.

 

As they entered the room, Dennis heard the two actors gasp. He turned, raising an eyebrow.

 

“It’s the same. It’s all here!” Anya breathed, looking around and then back to James.

 

“Aye, right!” James’s accent thickened in his wonder, and Anya elbowed him softly.

 

“Not the time for your kilt talk!” she whispered, smiling softly, but the smile was strained by her unease at their situation.

 

None of this was lost on Dennis. The accent thickening, the protective manner of James towards Anya, and the casual way that Anya touched James. He had never had a girl elbow him out of playfulness; usually tears would be involved. Dennis swallowed hard and cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him.

 

“The uh, computer. Internet is slow. I will type – you tell me what.” He pulled the chair out of his way, unwilling to commit to sitting around these people who knew him… and the man who was him.

 

“Right, that’s easy, brother. Our names.” James spelled out his name for Dennis, who typed methodically, not wanting to make a mistake.

 

**Your search – James McAvoy  - did not match any documents.**

“What in the name of the wee man!” James uttered quickly, accent thicker than ever.

 

**Your search – Anya Taylor-Joy – did not match any documents.**

“Okay, okay. That is just insane… I know that we show up on google!” her voice rising, panic trickling in, Anya looked desperately at Dennis. “Let us plug in our phones. You’ll see.”

 

Without an expression, Dennis offered her his charge cord, taking care not to allow his fingers to graze hers.

 

_Honestly, Dennis, now is not the time to be taking note of pretty young things._ Patricia scolded from the back of his mind, as if he could stop.  He ran a hand over his short hair in frustration.

 

Anya plugged in the phone and stared at it. James put himself between her and Dennis casually but firmly, slipping an arm around her thin shoulders, and looking from her phone to Dennis and back.

 

After an eternity, the phone screen lit up.

 

“Oh, thank god,” Anya breathed in relief, “I thought it wasn’t going to… OUCH!” she dropped the phone suddenly, jumping and clasping her hands together.

 

The phone hit the ground and the screen shattered. It lay there, smoking, and a small flame flicked out, followed by another, when the phone suddenly burst into a small fireball on the concrete floor.

 

“Shit!” Dennis exclaimed, unplugging the charger and stomping on the phone to kill the flames that had consumed it. He was aware of the acrid smell of melting plastic and electricity filling the air.

 

The three adults stared at the melted mess on the ground before them, not saying anything for a moment. Trying to figure out what it meant.

 

“Do you think we should try mine?” James asked tentatively.

 

“What if it does the same thing? Something seriously weird is happening here. How… how can we have no search results?” her voice was soft, upset.

 

James rubbed her shoulders and kissed her temple, and the sight of lips that Dennis would swear were his own pressing against Anya’s soft hair, the hand that was so much like his own resting on the soft fabric over her shoulder, made his head spin for a second. _So this is what it looks like when they don’t resist_ thought Dennis, bitterly.

 

“So… now what?” James asked, and both of the newcomers looked at Dennis.

 

Dennis squared his shoulders. “There’s something weird going on here. We’re busy… there’s still so much that we have to do to prepare. I don’t have time for whatever this is.”

 

“ ‘Prepare’? What are you preparing for?”

 

The only response was a raised eyebrow.

 

Anya blinked. “You’re talking about the Beast… aren’t you?”

 

Dennis fixed her with a cold stare.

 

“You can’t be serious. That is such a bad idea… assuming for a second that you’re really Dennis, or Patricia, Kevin, Hedwig, Barry… Jade… Orwell… Luke… any of them… you can’t let bring out the Beast!”

 

“The Beast is a higher evolution--”

 

“Oh shit.” James looked at him, unconsciously mimicking the furrowed brows. “Have you gotten the girls yet? You must not have, if you don’t recognize Anya. Dennis, you can’t do this. Listen to me, I know you. I basically am you. You can’t do this.”

 

Dennis sighed. This was going to be difficult. He reached for the canister in his pocket. “I have to do what’s best for Kevin.”

 

“NO!” The girl yelled and turned, starting to run, but faltering after a few steps “Wh-what?” She suddenly pitched forward, and was gone.

 

“ANYA!” James roared “AN..An…Anya..?” He stumbled, looking confused, then fell forward and was gone before he could hit the floor.

 

_Well, that appears to have solved itself, thank goodness_ Patricia hummed from Dennis’s brain, just before his stomach lurched. His eyes widened with shock, and suddenly he was falling through the black, ears popping harshly.

 

When Dennis landed, the breath was knocked from his body, and he lay on a carpet that he knew hadn’t been beneath him a moment ago. His eyes clamped shut, he remained still, gasping for air.


	3. New Surroundings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis ends up someplace new.

Chapter 3:  New Surroundings

 

There was so much sunlight. Without opening his eyes, Dennis could feel it warming his face, shining red behind his eyelids brightly. There were no real windows in his basement; just the one that Hedwig had drawn.

 

“Oh no… oh god… what is happening to us?” Anya moaned, and Dennis cracked his eyes open against the light. She was standing near his feet, and hand at her forehead.

 

“…need a hand?” James’s voice asked Dennis. He was standing opposite of Anya, at Dennis’s head, peering down at him with an unreadable expression.

 

“N….no.” Dennis pushed himself onto his elbows, wincing at the brief vertigo. He looked around.

 

He was next to an expensive looking large white couch, near a glass topped coffee table. To his right, an impressive entertainment system was mounted on the wall. Behind Anya was a row of full length windows, the half-drawn shades doing little to keep the glaring late afternoon sun from his face.

 

Dennis stood up, slowly, and glanced around. Beyond the couch, an oversized archway led into a kitchen area. He could see the marbled counter top and kitchen island, and several plushy stools at one side. The whole apartment had a handsome edge of dark wood paneling, and there was a hallway beyond James that led out of sight.

 

“Welcome, I guess? This is my apartment. Maybe a glass of water for you, yeah?” James asked softly.

 

Anya was still staring at Dennis. “What are we going to do with you? How did this even happen?”

 

The man stared at her, at a loss for words. Anya took a half step back from him, and he ran a hand over his hair nervously. His clever eyes noted that his watch had stopped. Dennis had no doubt that now it and his phone that were now dead, and, retrieving it from his pocket, he saw that he was right. He looked over at James. “A glass of water would be nice, thank you.” He said, curtly.

 

“Right. ‘Course.” James walked to the kitchen area, followed by Dennis and Anya. Anya stepped next to James, curling her fingers around his bicep and leaning against him, borrowing his strength and calmness.  James filled the water from the spout at the front of his fridge, and offered it to Dennis.

 

Dennis paused for only a minute, and then drank a few gulps from the glass that he had deemed clean enough. With the situation so wildly different from anything he was used to, he could feel his OCD kicking into high gear. Thankfully, this apartment looked very clean, but he was already noting the crumpled dishtowel that had been left on the counter; a drawer left ajar; the centerpiece of flowers was not centered. It would soon be too much for him, and Dennis knew that he would be adjusting things shortly. It had to all be… perfect.

 

“Can I talk to Barry, please?” James was watching Dennis.

 

“No.”

 

“Why can’t…. oh. Right. Because you and Patricia have taken control. Dunno if you’ve noticed, mate, but situation has changed a little. You might all have to kiss and make up and let me talk to the others.”

 

“That can’t happen. Barry had the light for too long; Kevin got hurt. I won’t let that happen again. _We_ won’t let that happen again.”

 

“Maybe he won’t be here that long… we weren’t in his world that long, right?” Anya looked at Dennis as if she expected him to blip out of the kitchen at any second.

 

“And if he doesn’t? He looks just like me, ‘Ya. He can’t exactly go out, and he definitely can’t let anything…other… than him go out. This is so fucked.” Although James had control, was controlling his accent, Dennis still noted how the word “fucked” came out “fooked”. It was almost like talking to Ian… not that Ian ever seemed to enjoy talking to Dennis. None of them did, really.

 

Dennis continued to look around his new surroundings as he listened to Patricia. _Well, this is unexpected. We need to get back, we need to let the Beast come forth and cleanse the impure._

The Beast.

 

Dennis looked at James. “You said you know me. You were me. The Beast… do you know him, too?”

 

James looked nonplussed, and pursed his lips – an almost Patricia expression - but didn’t answer.

 

“The Beast. Tell me. Does he… what do you know? You know everything else. Tell me. Tell me!” Dennis was desperate to hear.

 

“Yes.” The whisper came from Anya, not from James. James looked at her in clear disapproval, but her eyes bore down on Dennis. “He’s real… he’s… everyone here has seen him.”

 

Dennis was knocked back by this revelation. “’Everyone?’ What?”

 

“We told you… we were in a movie. Two movies. The first one was really big… here. Now we can show you. Let me grab my laptop.” She started to hurry towards the hallway that Dennis had noticed earlier, but stopped and turned back. “Don’t go anywhere… don’t do anything.”

 

The two men, identical twins from opposite dimensions, looked at each other in the silence that fell following Anya’s departure. Dennis took a couple sips from his water, forcing his eyes to ignore the towel that begged to be folded and carefully placed aside. James leaned against the counter, watching Dennis, thinking hard.

 

Anya returned with a slim laptop in her hands. She sat on the center kitchen stool, placing the laptop on the kitchen island and opening the top. Dennis went to her left; James to her right, both watching over her shoulders as she booted up the computer. When Chrome had launched, she typed “Split movie” in the image search bar, and hit enter.

 

The results were more than Dennis could take.

 

There he was, in a car, scowling.

 

 Another image held the girls he had been following so carefully, the spoiled impure ones, looking terrified in the room that he had worked so hard to make safe.

 

Yet another picture showed Barry smiling nervously beside some flowers, wearing a terrible snood collared shirt.

 

Here was an image of Doctor Fletcher; there an image of Hedwig in one of his brightest tracksuits, grinning widely.

 

Here Dennis sat on a cot beside Anya, who had a flower in her hair; there, Patricia in a red turtleneck with a golden locket resting on her chest.

 

The image that took his breath away, the one that held his eyes the longest, showed their body, without a shirt or shoes, clinging to the walls, high above the floor, with veins crossing the powerful muscles beneath.

 

The final image was blurred by Patricia’s tears, and she whispered _See how glorious he is_ while Dennis blinked the tears away.

 

A warm touch on his arm made him jump, and he look at the source in alarm. Anya withdrew her hand slightly, but she caught his eyes in her own. “Are you okay?”

 

Dennis looked back at the screen and swallowed hard, running another nervous hand over his shaved pate. “What happens to us?”

 

James and Anya shared a look, and in that look, Dennis’s stomach dropped.

 

“How… how about we talk to Barry and the others. Then we can watch the movies together.” James offered. “I think… I think it’s best if you all see, all together, rather than just you or Patricia trying to decide.”

 

“That’s not happening.” Dennis tore his eyes away from the lit screen before him to glare at the actor. “I told you. He got Kevin hurt; I’m in charge. We’re in charge.” When James didn’t look away from the glare, Dennis added, “And now? We don’t know where we are, or when we are. There’s too much… no. I’m keeping us safe. I am in control.”

 

In perfect contradiction to the strong statement, which had been uttered through gritted teeth, Dennis suddenly burst into a toothy grin and exclaimed “THIS IS SO COOL!” A thick lisp turned the words into a childish speech, and Hedwig grabbed the glasses off of his face before leaning carelessly around Anya to pour over the images closer. “Can you SEE this? It’s us! We… we’ve got…oh… sorry…”

 

Just like that, the boy was gone, and Dennis claimed control of the light, shoving Hedwig into his seat as he grabbed it roughly. He was aware of Anya pressed over his right shoulder from where the boyish alter had leaned in, and Dennis pinched the bridge of his nose as he straightened up.

 

“Nice one. ‘In control’, huh? Remember, Dennis… I know you. I know basically all of you.” James’s voice was deeply amused.  


“We both do.” Anya added, voice as soft and soothing as ever. Dennis replaced his glasses, and looked at the two of them, who were both looking at him. “Trust us. We want what’s best… and that means letting Barry and the others in.”

 

“No.”

 

“Jesus fuck, you are so stubborn!” James looked away in frustration, then turned back. “Okay, how about, we give it a couple days. See if you stay here. And if you don’t go poof, then we can all work together here. Just… don’t do anything. Keep a low profile. Here, everyone knows your face, mate.”

 

Dennis blinked at them in response. “What?”  


“We’re actors. This movie was big. We’ve been in other big movies. People know us… welcome to fame, Dennis.”

 

Sighing, Dennis stepped away from the screen and his two new hosts, and walked over to the counter. He folded the dish towel, setting it aside carefully, before adjusting the centerpiece, and closing the drawer. This allowed him to think freely, unburdened by the dangerous clutter that had been clawing at him like a hot iron, or a jagged coat hanger. “I don’t think I have much of a choice but to stay,” he slowly began, “since I can only assume that my home isn’t there anymore, or that Doctor Fletcher isn’t real to reach out to. I can stay inside. That’s not an issue. I just need to get back.”

 

James let out a relieved sigh, and smiled at Dennis. “Excellent. Yeah. We can keep you comfy here until we figure out what’s going on. Give us a few days, if you’re still here, we can revisit the idea to see the movies.”

 

Dennis locked eyes with him again. “Why can’t you just show me?”

 

Anya answered before James could. “Please… Dennis. Please just trust us. We will, but right now is not the best time. James, can you come help me set up a room for Dennis? Dennis, we will be right back. Stay.” She smiled at him, raising a hand to show that he should stay behind, and then she closed up the laptop and took it with her as the two went back down the hallway.

 

As soon as they were around the corner in the hallway, James grabbed Anya, pulling her slight frame against him, burying his face in her hair. She shuddered against him, clinging to his embrace and struggling to catch her breath.

 

“It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.” James soothed her, running a hand through her hair before pulling back slightly. His lips met hers, and she molded herself against him. As they parted, he leaned his forehead against hers, hands still roaming over her back in reassuring circles.

 

“This is so crazy, James.” She whispered, eyes closed as she continued to lean against his forehead, reveling in the warmth of the man holding her. “He’s real… then he’s really going to hurt those girls who are real… somewhere. Do you think we can… can we convince them not to?”

 

“We’re gonna try, love.” He kissed her lips briefly, followed by her forehead, before they continued into the spare bedroom to prepare it for their unexpected guest.


	4. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis begins to adjust to life with James and Anya. Warning, this chapter contains smut!

Chapter 4: Settling In

 

Dennis was not used to a life like this.

 

He was suddenly in the midst of two people who wanted to be touching each other all of the time. They had welcomed him into their lives. They tried to make him feel included. The next two days that he was in their lives passed in a flash of warmth, the likes of which Dennis and the others in his head had never known.

 

The spare room was made up as neatly as they could get it (Dennis went over it later, fixing all of the errors that they had left behind – the crooked pillow, the chair that was not at a perfect juxtaposition to the wall; little things that had cried out to be fixed). James went through his closet and brought out things that looked closer to what Dennis would wear – button up shirts and dark slacks.

 

“Sorry, I don’t have anything for Patricia.” The man had apologized, handing over the clothes, and had even grabbed some brightly colored shirts and warm sweat pants for if Hedwig decided to pop out.

 

All of the clothes were a perfect fit.

 

Of course they were.

 

When James and Anya had shown Dennis his new bedroom and the private bathroom (clean, but slightly dusty from disuse), he had observed how their fingers tangled together to hold hands lightly. Dennis turned to them, and bluntly asked, “So. What are you two?”

 

“…actors?” James had asked, not understanding.

 

“What are you two to each other.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement that demanded a response. For emphasis, Dennis flicked his icy blue eyes down to their tangled fingers before resting them back on James’s warm blue eyes.

 

Anya flushed and glanced shyly at James, who paused for a moment before pulling her against him. “We are together. Dating? Lovers? Partners? Whatever your definition needs.”

 

Dennis looked at between the two before raising his usual eyebrow and addressing Anya. “Isn’t he a little old for you?”

 

James and Anya laughed together, and it was a genuinely happy sound that rang warmly in Dennis’s chest, though he chose to ignore this unexpected feeling. “We get that a lot. We worked together, erm, closely, and… things happen, you know? It’s ok. I’m happy. We’re happy… right?” Anya replied. She looked at James, who wrapped his arms around her slender waist and gave her a quick kiss on the neck in response, all dazzling teeth in a grin and happiness.

 

Everything they seemed to do just dripped with happiness.

 

It was unnerving for Dennis.

 

For famous people, they didn’t really seem to have many visitors, and when Dennis pointed this out, James had replied that they preferred it this way. He explained that they spent the most time at James’s place; Anya’s was a bit out of the city where it was quieter, but further from jobs and events. The price of this meant that if they went outside, they had to duck around and hide. They couldn’t enjoy a simple meal out without being harangued by reporters or fans; in his apartment, they could try to be normal.

 

Normal was sitting on a couch, Anya’s legs draped across James’s lap, both eating from a bowl of popcorn that made Dennis wince with each dropped kernel, enjoying a movie.

 

Normal was how they both emerged from the bedroom, with damp and tangled hair from a shared shower.

 

Normal was cooking together, each focused on a different part of the meal that they would share together, laughing, bumping hips to get past each other.

 

And they wanted Dennis to feel it too.

 

He was put in charge of chopping things for meals, and Anya’s face lit up every time that he handed her a plate of perfectly evenly sliced vegetables, as if he had performed some great feat.

 

They asked for his opinions – what to watch, what to eat, what to read, where should this go, how does this look; a never ending barrage of inclusiveness.

 

James asked Dennis for a hand moving a spare writing desk into Dennis’s room, and now he had a space where he could keep an actual, hand written journal.

 

“I know you guys like to have your video diary… but just in the interest of not going nuts with the internet, we’re kinda keeping things under wraps for you. Sorry, but at least you can write?” James had given him a  warm smile and clapped a hand on Dennis’s shoulder in a genial manner that Dennis had never encountered (oh but there were memories of people touching _Barry_ like that; everyone liked to get along with _Barry_ ).

 

He took all of this in, keeping his face blank. Each moment was like a rock from a riverbed, picked up and pocketed to be examined later; turned over in his mind before sleep took him.

 

Dennis was able to explore the apartment, which really was magnificent. He was lost in a study for an afternoon, barely able to resist Orwell’s urge to dive into the books lining the walls and never leave. As he left the study quietly, he heard a light gasp that made him freeze.

 

James and Anya were on the couch, a movie paused on the screen. She was on her back and he was over her, kissing her deeply.

 

Dennis watched, torn with guilt. He knew he shouldn’t lurk, but he couldn’t look away. They were always affectionate, but he had never seen more than fleeting kisses between the two; either they were afraid of making him a spare wheel, or they were afraid that they’d awaken something in him. This was the first time he was seeing something more intimate, and he knew they deserved their privacy, but he couldn’t look away.

 

He couldn’t ignore the hands that were copies of his trailing up her pale thigh, over her stomach, then onto her breast.

 

Couldn’t look away from the profile that he knew by heart nuzzling her neck, a mouth so like his pressed to a woman’s red lips, her neck, the exposed cleavage from another low cut top – she had so many tops like that, and Dennis secretly enjoyed each one.

 

Couldn’t stop himself from growing hard as she gasped against James’s touches, eagerly pulling herself against him, running a hand through his hair, the hair that was the only thing that was unlike Dennis’s; her other hand tracing circles on his shoulders.

 

He stood there, ignoring his growing want as the two on the couch continued, blissfully unaware that they had a shadow.

 

“James… what if Dennis comes back out…” she asked as he dropped his face to the crook of her neck again. “Let’s go to the bedroom… James…”

 

James trailed his kisses further down, his hand slipping up the bottom of her shirt to hold her breast, skin on skin, murmuring “We’ll hear him. He’s in the study… god, Anya, I want you.” He rocked his hips against hers, jeans surely frustrating his lust as he began to pull at the hem of the short skirt that she was wearing.

 

“Oh… I… oh…” Anya’s train of thought was derailed as James pushed her panties aside and slipped a finger into her.

 

His mouth reclaimed hers as he pushed his finger in and out of her, adding a second and causing her to moan softly, her hips shifting upwards to meet his touch. “Shh…” he shushed her before using his free hand to pull at her top, revealing a full breast, nipple at alert, before he took it into his mouth, rocking his hips with each thrust of his fingers into her.

 

Her hands grasped at his hair and she pulled his face back to hers, kissing him fiercely, his tongue plunging into her mouth. She spread her legs for him, and reached for the zipper of his jeans, pulling out his hard and leaking length, clumsy with want.

 

Dennis had a momentary glance of a cock that he had known his whole life before it was buried into the juncture of her thighs with a sigh of relief from both Anya and James. Their mouths didn’t part as he thrust into her, picking up speed. His hand played with her barely exposed breast. James thrust into her, aching to be closer, and her legs urged him deeper as she shifted her hips up beneath him.

 

Their pace increased, frantic with want, needing to finish.

 

With a few final firm thrusts, James moaned into Anya’s mouth, his body stuttering with orgasm. As he spilled himself deep within her, she arched and groaned, chasing her own orgasm around his throbbing member.

 

They lay entwined for a moment, panting. James kissed her forehead and gently told her, “I love you. God, I needed that.”

 

Anya smiled up at him, and she nodded. “I love you too. Couch sex, yes please.” She giggled, but it turned into a sigh as he pulled his softening member from her carefully.

 

“Shower, yeah?” James asked

 

“Yeah. No spots on the couch… right? You know he’d notice…”

 

James smiled mischievously at her. “Better hurry up and go then, ‘Ya.”

 

Dennis realized he was in their way, and they would be coming in his direction to get to their room. He crept back to the study, sure they would hear him, and sat in one of the chairs, pulling a book at random, and laying it open on his lap, desperate to cover the aching bulge that begged for release.

 

He pretended to be reading as they passed by the doorway, raising a hand in response to James’s offhand “Alright, Dennis?” and listening hard for the water to start. As soon as it had, he bounded into his room, closed the door, yanked out his erection, and thrust into his palm, remembering the way the curve of her breast had fit so perfectly into a hand that was so like his own. He gritted his teeth to bite back his growl of orgasm, his seed spilling over his hand after what felt like only a few moments, his head still dancing with images of the lovers on the couch.

 

Sighing once he was under control, Dennis began to clean himself up.

 

So much for being good.


	5. Restless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis can only hold the light for so long.

Chapter 5: Restless

 

After four days had passed since his arrival, Dennis was still in the apartment. He was sitting on the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose, ignoring the headache that was threatening to overtake him.

 

“Dennis? You okay?”

 

It was Anya. She had come out of the bedroom, alone for a change. James must either still be sleeping or busy on his computer – he always seemed to be struggling to keep up with correspondence.

 

“Dennis?” She asked again, sitting at the edge of the couch at only an arm’s length from him.

 

Dennis squinted at her, pushing the memory of her and James in the spot that he carefully avoided sitting on beside him. She looked concerned. He let out a shaky sigh.

 

“I can’t hold him back anymore. It’s been too long. I’m sorry, Anya.”

 

“What? Who? Dennis… who is coming?” her voice rose in a panic, and she got to her feet, backing away from where he sat, his head throbbing like a rotten tooth. “Dennis, please, hold on, you can do this.” She begged, and a part of him wondered at her fear, but then the light was taken from him.

 

Anya watched with big eyes as Dennis shuddered, then leaned forward suddenly, all movement stopping. “James!” She yelped; backing away, fear injecting itself into her suddenly shrill voice, a taste of copper on her tongue as adrenaline filled her veins. “JAMES!”

 

James stumbled out of bed at her first cry, and snapped to reality at her second cry. He raced to his bedroom door and threw it open, running out of the room and to the living room, meeting her in the doorway to the hallway, wrapping his arms around her.

 

“What, what is it?!”

 

“It’s Dennis! He said he couldn’t hold him back… he…he lost control of the light…” Anya gasped, eyes wide and full of panic.

 

James turned slowly to where the body that was so like his was sitting on the couch. The man sat up and carefully removed the glasses from his face, setting them on the glass topped coffee table, and regarded both of them with an unreadable expression.

 

“Oh god, James, is it… is it the Beast? Is he coming?” Anya whispered, her breath hot on James’s ear. He put himself between her and the man on the couch, trying to think of how to handle this. He could say Kevin’s full name… but he knew that would only work for so long. He could get something with a flash – would that work longer? Would they be able to get to something before being ripped apart?

 

The man on the couch stood abruptly, looked around, and then cracked into a toothy smile. “Hey mister, you know you don’t have pants on, right?” he asked in an exaggerated whisper, a lisp making the moment comical.

 

Anya’s head dropped onto James’s freckled shoulder with relief as she exclaimed, “Oh my god, Hedwig. You scared us!”

 

“Me? I’ve got pants on! Why would I scare you?”

 

James cleared his throat in an eerily Dennis-like way. “I’m gonna go… put some pants on. I’ll be back.” He glanced at Anya, rolled his eyes, and went to get dressed.

 

Anya walked over to Hedwig, who was suddenly struck by an attack of shyness. “What happened to Dennis?” she asked.

 

Hedwig shuffled slightly, not meeting her eyes. “I’ve been sooo bored an’ you guys have all this cool stuff an’ watch movies that Mr. Dennis doesn’t even pay attention to cuz he’s all worried about the popcorn and it’s been soooo boring.” He risked a glance to see if she was mad at him, but was emboldened by the friendly curiosity he saw instead of anger. “I guess I’ve been bugging him pretty hard, an’ sometimes it gives whoever is in charge a wicked headache, et cetera. But it means that I can come hang out so can we _please_ do something fun?”

 

She laughed, a little harder than the situation warranted, but she was so relieved. “Okay, Hedwig. What would you like to do?”

 

The answer was everything. He wanted to color, so they colored.

 

He wanted to cook together (“Hotdogs!” he had roared gleefully when she asked him what they should make).

 

He wanted to play tag – James took over for that. Hedwig wasn’t quite aware of how strong he could be, and James was faster than Anya at running. The laughter that filled the apartment was an echo of one voice, tinged with the tinkling bells of Anya’s laughter.

 

Hedwig wanted to watch a movie, so he was allowed to pick one out and sit between the two of them on the couch, carelessly eating the popcorn and bursting with laughter every time one of the animated characters on the screen (“How to Train Your Dragon” was the movie he had selected) did something unexpected.

 

It was a great day for the three of them – Hedwig was starved for the affection, and they were happy to show it to him.

 

Everything was fine, until Hedwig wanted to dance.

 

He turned on music, something of James’s with a beat, and began one of his spasming dances. Anya and James laughed and clapped for him, with him, and James danced back at him, grinning. The two boys danced laps around each other, a playful, sweaty mess, both laughing hard at the gymnastic moves the other could do. Anything Hedwig did, James mirrored, and vice versa. “No one ever keeps up with me!” Hedwig exclaimed, delighted.

 

The song shifted, and Anya shouted, “I love this song!” and she threw her hair back and her arms up, closed her eyes and danced, lost in the moment.

 

When she opened her eyes, both men were staring at her with nearly identical expressions of lust. The look on James’s face was familiar, but on the other man’s face, it was fierce with want.

 

She took a shaky breath, taking a step back from both men, feeling like a fawn caught between lions.

 

Dennis put his glasses back on, and forced back the urge to _grab_ and _pull_ and _touch_ and _bite_ and _taste_ and _take_... He turned on his heel and walked to his bedroom, fleeing the moment.

 

Anya’s cheeks glowed bright red, realizing that her dancing had brought him out, over poor Hedwig, who just wanted to have fun. James furrowed his brow, then stepped to her and put an arm around her. He kissed her forehead, and then followed Dennis.

 

James knocked at the door, took the grunt that he got in response as an invitation, and slipped into the room. “What was that about, mate?”

 

Dennis sighed through gritted teeth. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, where he had grabbed onto his knees so tightly that his knuckles were white, and he was sure that he would wear his own bruises tomorrow. “She was dancing.”

 

“Aye, yeah, people do that. We were all dancing.”

 

“You don’t understand. You say that you _know_ me; that you _are_ me, but you’re not. You can’t… understand…” Dennis gritted his teeth. “I’m _tryin’ to be good._ Do you know how hard that is for me?”

 

“Is she safe here?” James asked, looking Dennis in the eyes.

 

Dennis stared back evenly, surprised by the direct question. He thought for a moment, exploring his own feelings and urges.

 

“Well?” James snapped, unable to take the pause.

 

“…Yes. I won’t… do nothin’. Anything. I won’t.” Dennis finally forced out. “I can control myself. I can.”

 

James looked at him, and in his mind he heard a girl’s voice whispering, “He wanted me to dance for him.” But that hadn’t happened yet, not in Dennis’s timeline. James debated… Dennis hadn’t touched Anya. He seemed to actively avoid touching her. Remembering that firmed up his decision.

 

“Alright. Then we’re okay.” He paused. “Listen, Anya and I are going to start going to work things – events, castings, practices…. Stuff like that. We put it off, but you’re still here. We’ve gotta go back to life at some point. Will you be okay here during the day?”

 

Dennis nodded curtly. “I’m used to keeping my own company.”

 

“It’ll just be days, or the occasional evenings. We won’t be gone long, and maybe not at the same time… we aren’t in anything together right now.”

 

“That’s fine.”

 

James turned to walk out, and then turned back. “You should let Hedwig out more often. He’s a sweet kid. We liked having him around too... both of you are welcome here.” He nodded at Dennis before leaving the room.

 

Dennis was left alone, musing over the idea that James had included Dennis as someone that they liked having around.

 

A new feeling blossomed in his chest, and Dennis identified it as happiness.


	6. Pretending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis puts on an act to avoid suspicion.

Chapter 6: Pretending

 

James and Anya went back to work, and Dennis got time to himself.

 

The first time he found himself alone, he went into the bedroom that the two shared. He couldn’t resist; he had been being good for so long.

 

The room was a mess, by his standards. The bed was tousled, with imprints of their heads on both pillows. There were clothes on the floor and in the basket, and the tops of their dressers were covered in personal effects – makeup and perfume on hers, cologne and a scattering of cufflinks on his.

 

_What are you up to, Dennis?_ Patricia asked from behind his forehead, but Dennis pushed her back.

 

Dennis picked up Anya’s perfume and sprayed it into the air tentatively, smelling the flowers in the air and allowing his mind to turn back to the time he had watched them on the couch. Feeling his cock stir at the memory, he carefully replaced the perfume, and left the room as it was.

 

He didn’t go back into their room again, instead opting to read or write. Hedwig would whine at him, but Dennis kept him at bay with the promise that he could come out whenever one of them was back. Dennis didn’t trust him not to mess up the apartment if left unattended, and he was vaguely intimidated by the over the top entertainment system. No way was he going to try to operate that on his own.

 

When Dennis found himself alone with James, they occasionally would try a game of chess in the study. Something for the two of them to do together, where Dennis could enjoy the quiet filled with what he was tentatively considering a friendship. James never rushed him, so the split man could take his time figuring out the best move. They took turns winning.

 

Sometimes, Hedwig would be handed the light, and he was overjoyed to hang out with James. James would rub his head affectionately; feed him ice cream, and watch movies until well past time for sleep.

 

James could chase Hedwig around in games of tag, something that none of the alters had ever been able to do for the boy. Hedwig would run around the apartment, giggling endlessly, with James close at his heels.

 

Hedwig would spend time with Anya too, usually coloring, or singing loudly and off-key with her. He told her stories of how Miss Patricia would sing to him, and Anya would smile at him. The boy would do anything to make her smile, and often drew her pictures of flowers and his favorite animals.

 

When it was just Dennis and Anya, things were different. At first, Dennis was aware that she was a little uneasy being alone with him. He bit back his resentment at this, and gave her space, preferring to sit in the study with a book. Dennis was used to people being uneasy around him.

 

He was sitting there the first time she knocked at the door. “Dennis?”

 

“Yes?” he was surprised that she had sought him out, and something in his chest fluttered with that knowledge.

 

“Do… do you want to watch a movie or something?” She looked at him, her large eyes imploring him. “It’s so quiet without James… I wanted to put something on to beat the quiet. Join me?”

 

The man stood, straightened his slacks, put the book away neatly, and followed her. He settled onto the couch, crossed his arms, and prepared himself to stay good.

 

She smiled at him as he sat, then turned on a movie. “If you hate this, let me know. We can watch whatever, honestly.”

 

He nodded to let her know that he had heard.

 

Without the bowl of popcorn to distract him, he found himself glancing at her, and then paying attention to the film. It wasn’t anything special, but he found himself smiling thinly at some of the on-screen antics. The next time he looked at Anya, she was smiling at him, before turning her attention back to the screen.

 

That became their ritual. He would go into the study to let her know that the space was hers, and she would invite him out to fill the quiet with her when she was ready.

 

It was nice.

 

They were about to turn on a movie one evening while James was out when the intercom buzzed. “Ms. Taylor-Joy?”

 

Brow furrowed, Anya went to the door and hit the answering button. “Yes?”

 

“Some friends here for you. Insistent ladies, something about--” The doorman’s voice was cut off by a woman’s voice in the background. “We’re here to visit you, bitch!” the female voice cried cheerfully.

 

“Oh god, that’s Chrissy.” Anya whispered. She looked at Dennis, who had frozen. “Uhm, ok! Sure. Let them up.”

 

“What are you doing?” Dennis hissed at her.

 

“They’re my friends… I’ve been avoiding them a bit with… with everything going on here,” her cheeks flushed, and Dennis knew that she had been hiding him from them, “but they aren’t going to give up. They’ll make a fuss.”

 

“Should I hide?”

 

“No! No, I can’t ask you to do that… Just… uhm…” She thought hard, and then smiled. “Here, I’m gonna grab one of James’s beanies. You just be you. We’ll tell them that he’s ‘getting into character’ for a press event revisiting ‘Split’ and ‘Glass’, mkay?”

 

Dennis raised an eyebrow at her. “What if they ask me questions about… those movies? I haven’t seen them. As I’m sure you remember.” He looked at her pointedly.

 

“Just wing it. It’ll be fine. Tell Hedwig NOT to come out.”

 

Rolling his eyes, he assured her that he had. She ran into her bedroom, then came back with a beanie that he had just gotten on when the front doorbell rang, and three curvy girls wearing just enough to be allowed out in public spilled in.

 

“Oh my god, it’s been forever!” the first cried out, a redhead with a nose piercing, hugging Anya.

 

“Seriously. What gives?” another girl asked, blond and willowy.

 

“She just wants to keep Jamesy all to herself.” The final girl said, with a bawdy wink thrown in Dennis’s direction. She had black hair and was wearing an alarming amount of purple, and Dennis recognized her voice from the intercom, making her Chrissy.

 

“James, you remember Chrissy, Cindy, and Terri, right? It’s been a while.” Anya said, standing with her arms around the redheaded Cindy and blond Terri.

 

“Oh, how could I forget?” Dennis asked her, in a warm voice that made Anya’s eyebrows lift a quarter of an inch. “Ladies, we were about to start a film. Care to join us?”

 

The girls went to the couch, and Anya caught up with him. “What are you doing? You’re not being… Dennis…?” she hissed into his ear.

 

Dennis hung an arm around her shoulder the way he had seen James do, and leaned in to whisper, “I can do this. Less questions.”

 

Anya’s mind flashed to Dennis, dressed as Barry, trying to convince Dr. Fletcher that everything was all right. She had to admit, the usually methodical man could transform himself when he put his mind to it.

 

She sighed briefly before they, with Dennis’s arm securely around her thin shoulders, followed her unexpected guests to the couch, accepting that the evening was going to be interesting.

 

“Come onnn, kids, catch up time.” Chrissy pouted at them. “Why are you dressed like a priest in training, Jamesy?”

 

Dennis winced at the nickname. “Been revisiting the ‘Dennis’ character. Got a press thing coming up.”

 

He settled into the corner of the giant couch furthest away from the others, and tried to conceal his surprise when Anya plopped down next to him and snuggled under one of his arms to lean against him. She gave him a quick look, as if she was checking to see if this was okay, before turning back to the ladies. “Okay, what are we watching?”

 

“Porn?” Cindy offered innocently, and then laughed loudly to show that she was joking.

 

“How about ‘La La Land’? Ryan Gosling is sooo yummy in that movie. James, would you mind if we drooled over him for a few hours?” Terri asked, smiling at Dennis.

 

“Not at all. You ladies do your thing. I’m just here for the view, yeah?” he said, raising an eyebrow at Anya in a way that made the others giggle.

 

“Excellent. I’ve got wine and cups cuz I’m a classy bitch!” Chrissy exclaimed, and proceeded to pull two bottles of red wine from her oversized purse, closely followed by several silicone travel cups.

 

“Oh god…” Anya whispered, but took the cup that was offered to her, and the movie started.

 

The new girls seemed pretty absorbed in the movie (mostly in the male lead, truth be told), which allowed Dennis to enjoy his current position. He had an arm around Anya, stroking her shoulder absently, loving the smell of flowers that drifted up from her hair. After her second cup of wine, she was leaning against him, comfortable and warm, finally relaxing.

 

Cindy had to go to the bathroom and insisted that the movie be paused, so Chrissy took the opportunity to talk to Dennis. “Why do you have to be that weirdo again?”

 

Dennis felt Anya wince against him as she heard the insult, but he just answered lightly, “Press event.”

 

“Ugh, I mean, how can people still be interested? I mean like, no offense, Jamesy, but like, he totally got Kevin ki--”

 

Dennis didn’t hear the end of the sentence, because suddenly Anya was kissing him. Her mouth was sweet from the wine, and every thought was blasted from his brain at the touch of her soft lips. She gently placed a hand on his cheek and looked at him with wide brown eyes. His heart was in his throat. When Anya pulled back, Dennis pushed forward, seeking her lips again, kissing her, tasting her.

 

“Wow, okay, still sitting here, guys.” Chrissy pouted.

 

Anya placed a hand on Dennis’s chest, pushing him firmly back as she pulled away. “Sorry, I just can’t help it around him!” She gave her friend a loopy smile. “Maybe instead of talking shop, we can just enjoy the movie? Whenever Cindy finally gets back?”

 

Dennis pulled Anya onto his lap so that she was straddling him, not caring who else was there. Forget about being good; this was what he wanted. He knew she could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing frantically against her, and he kissed her again, deeply. His hands were in her thick hair, and his nose was filled with her scent of flowers. Chrissy made throat clearing sounds from her side of the couch, but Dennis ignored her. He wanted this. He _needed_ this.

 

She pulled back again, her face flushed, giving him a look that was a little sad, but mostly bewildered. “I… I think that I’m going to make us some popcorn.” She extricated herself from his grasp, and Dennis mourned the loss of her warmth.

 

Chrissy and Terri stared at Dennis for a moment, for once quiet, and he stood abruptly. “I’m… I’m gonna help.”

 

He followed Anya into the kitchen.

 

She looked at him, and whispered “Dennis…”

 

He didn’t let her continue. His mouth claimed hers, and he lifted her onto the countertop, scissoring himself between her legs so that he could press against her, and feel her pressed against him. One hand tangled in her hair as his tongue plundered her mouth, and the other grabbed her hip, pulling himself tight against her.

 

“Dennis.” She broke free of his hungry kiss, and he availed himself to her white neck, gently kissing and licking. “Dennis!” she hissed.

 

He forced himself to pull his head away from her, and he looked at her, his fiery blue eyes locked onto her wide brown ones.

 

“You have to stop. We have to stop. I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have started it. I just… she was going to spill the beans, and you deserve better than to hear it from her.” Anya suddenly looked close to tears, and Dennis let out a small groan before dropping his head onto her shoulder, seeking comfort in her gentle floral scent.

 

“I’m sorry. I was tryin’ to be good.” He murmured, not sure if she could actually hear him.

 

“You were. It’s okay. Just… it has to stop. I love James, and I won’t do this.” She put a hand on his cheek and looked at the man who looked so much like her love. “Please. Let’s go back to the movie, and get them the hell out of here.”

 

Dennis pulled himself away from her, and his heart fell into his stomach. He was ashamed of himself, of his urges, of risking this friendship. “Will it be okay?”

 

She smiled softly at him. “Yeah. It will be.”

 

Anya popped the popcorn, and Dennis went back to the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose. This time, Anya merely sat beside him, not tucked up dangerously close to him. The movie resumed when Anya returned (Cindy had come back while they were in the kitchen), and Dennis was left to his thoughts.

 

_What didn’t she want me to hear, that she’d take a risk like that?_


	7. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya and James come to a decision.

Chapter 7: Apologies

 

When the film finally ended, Anya ushered the girls out. Dennis lagged behind, just wanting them gone so he could go into his room in shame.

 

Anya glanced over her shoulder at him between hugs being given to her by her friends. “Hey… girls. Quick question: in ‘Split’ and ‘Glass’… were you able to believe that all of those people lived in Kevin’s body?”

 

Dennis froze, not breathing. _What is she doing?_

“Uhm… yeah. Like totally. Jamesy killed it with his performance.” Chrissy smiled at Dennis, who was still standing a bit back, unmoving.

 

Terri smiled and ducked her head at him. “Yeah! Plus like, it’s a real thing, right? That disassociate identity whatever. There are actual cases of it.”

 

Cindy nodded. “Mhmm, it was cool. I was totes on board.”

 

Smiling, Anya thanked them for coming over, and then finished ushering them out the door. She turned to face Dennis before whispering, “See? People do believe you exist. You don’t have to do anything… extreme.”

 

This hit Dennis like a brick. “Ah. That’s what it all was about.” He turned away from her, battling his feelings.

 

“What?” Anya was confused by his sudden shift.

 

“You just… are worried about the Beast.” He muttered to her, and in his head he heard Patricia tutting.

 

_Oh Dennis, you didn’t think she wanted to kiss you, did you?_

Of course she didn’t.

 

Anya’s brows furrowed. “Well, of course I’m worried about the Beast, Dennis.”

 

He regarded her flatly, feeling foolish for the way he had acted earlier. A part of him tried to be hurt, and he pushed it away. Dennis didn’t have room for hurt; he was a wall of protection.

 

Turning away from her, he told her a curt good night, and started to walk towards his room in this place that he had fooled himself into thinking that he belonged.

 

“Dennis, wait.” Her soft voice implored him, and he paused. “I’m sorry that I kissed you; it wasn’t the right way to handle things. I just… I panicked. And you do look so much like James… it was easy for me. _I’m sorry._ ”

 

Dennis couldn’t remember the last time had gotten a sincere apology from anyone, and he turned back to her, head tilting slightly as he studied her, face remaining carefully blank.

 

“We want you to know that you’re accepted, that people would believe you all about living in one body. Not just in this world, but in yours. The things that the Beast wants… it’s not the way.” She bit her lip, thinking. “I’ll talk to James. We were hoping that you could trust us enough to share with Barry and the others so that you all could see… but… but… oh fuck, I think I just messed it up and I am so sorry…” she trailed off, tears welling in her eyes.

 

_She’s an actress…_ Patricia whispered like a stormy wind in his mind.

 

The man stared at the girl who was beginning to weep in front of him, trying to decide what to do.

 

Anya wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears and shivering.

 

Dennis couldn’t take it. He stepped slowly to her, and gently brushed the hair from her face, licking his lips quickly. “Don’t.”

 

Her eyes were full of misery as she gazed into his. “I’m sorry.” She whispered again.

 

Sighing and squaring his jaw, Dennis rested his hand on her quivering shoulder, forcing himself to ignore the urge to _yank her close and taste her tears while fucking the sadness away_ and instead just standing there, trying to offer some support. “I’m tryin’ to be good.”

 

“I know…”

 

“No, you don’t. Neither of you really do. I’m _tryin’_ to be _good_ but you both want me to let Barry push me back into the dark.” His words caught in his throat for a second. “Losing the sun is unbearable, and I’m just supposed to step aside and let him prance on out here, gettin’ Kevin hurt, makin’ me out to be an evil monster when all I want is…” Dennis bit down on the memory of her pressed against him, the taste of her sweet skin as he had lapped at her neck. “…is to keep Kevin safe.”

 

She was suddenly leaning against him, holding him close, her tears wetting his shirt in a way that should have been torture but wasn’t. “We don’t want you gone, Dennis. We just want all of you to know what path you, Patricia, and Hedwig are aiming Kevin to.”

 

“It’s bad, huh?” Dennis said, through gritted teeth. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides, refusing the urge to hold her, to take her, to have her. She’d already told him that wasn’t what she wanted from him, and he. Was. Trying. To. Be. Good.

 

The door behind them opened suddenly, and James walked in slowly, his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly ajar at the sight of his Anya crying and clinging to a very tense Dennis.

 

“Ah… what did I miss?” He asked, and Anya released Dennis, turning to her man. Dennis let out a small, shaky breath at the sudden freedom.

 

“Oh, James…” The way she said the name of his double cut Dennis. There was so much love in that one word, and, though she was never cold to him, she never said his name like that.

 

Dennis was ashamed of himself for wanting her.

 

“James, the girls came over… Chrissy, Cindy, and Terri. I told Dennis to just pretend to be you prepping for a press thing, and they bought it… but…” she trailed away, pressing her lips together.

 

Ever the protector, Dennis stepped forward. “The loud one. Chrissy. She started to talk about the movies that I’m supposed to be from, and Anya didn’t want me to hear whatever it is you both have been keeping from me… not from that… _woman_ … at least.”

 

James cocked an eyebrow at him, and gathered Anya into his arms. “What happened, love?”

 

“I kissed him.” She breathed, and felt him tense for a moment. “I panicked. I didn’t know how else to interrupt her without being crazy obvious and everyone knows that we’re always all over each other and I just… I kissed him.”

 

Dennis met James’s gaze evenly. There was a hard edge to James’s eyes that Dennis recognized from any mirror he had ever looked into. Accusation flooded from the actor’s blue eyes in a wave of knives, all aimed at Dennis. The unspoken question – _what did you do_ \- hung between them in the air.

 

Opening his mouth to say something, Dennis was cut off by Anya. “That’s it, James. I kissed him, and I played his… his needs… just because it was the easy way to deal with Chrissy. He looks so much like you, that I let myself do it, and I’m so sorry. I was apologizing to Dennis when you came home.”

 

“I’m sure he appreciated the hugs and kisses.” James replied, and Anya sniffled loudly against him. He pulled her back from his chest slightly so that he could look into her eyes. “Is that all?”

 

She nodded, before shaking her head, contradicting herself. “We should show him the movies, James. He thinks that we want him to be banished back into the dark.”

 

James’s head jerked up and he looked at Dennis again, looking almost… hurt? Dennis blinked in surprise. “We don’t want to get rid of you, mate. We just want everyone present and accounted for. Also, sorry, but you’ve got to admit that Barry might be a little easier to talk to sometimes. You’re kind of a wall.”

 

While Dennis struggled to think of an appropriate response, James turned his attention back to Anya, gently lifting her chin with a long finger and placing a soft kiss on her lips. “I love you,” he assured her, “and I’m not mad.”

 

She cried harder, wrapping her arms around her lover’s neck. He responded by lifting her into his arms, cradling her gently, and carrying her past Dennis, towards their bedroom.

 

“W-wait.” She shimmied slightly, and James let her down. She walked back to Dennis, who took a half step back, eyeing her warily. He was suddenly exhausted by all of it, just needing this moment to be over.

 

The brown haired girl stopped in front of him, and offered him her hand. “Friends?” she asked, brown eyes boring into blue eyes.

 

Dennis grasped her hand firmly, mind recording the softness of them, and the delicate strength in her fingers. “Friends.” He replied sternly, but the ghost of a smile was threatening to spill into the corners of his lips.

 

James approached and offered Dennis a hand as well. As Dennis took it, James leaned in to study the face that was so like his own. “Everything all right? Still… safe? Like we discussed?”

 

Nodding, Dennis gripped the familiar and somehow still alien hand. “I’m being good.”

 

Satisfied, James picked Anya back up, and began to carry her again, placing a kiss on her forehead with a dry ardor that Dennis envied instantly. Before disappearing into the hallway, James called over his shoulder, “Tomorrow, then. We watch the movies tomorrow.”


	8. Private Viewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dennis watches "Unbreakable", "Split", and "Glass".

Chapter 8: Private Viewing

 

The night was long and somehow cold, despite the regulated temperature of the bedroom. Dennis lay on his back, glasses off, staring at the ceiling. He knew sleep would come for him eventually, but this night, sleep was slow to come.

 

_Finally, we can see what we are capable of!_ Patricia exulted.

 

_I bet we look AWESOME_ Hedwig crowed.

 

“I have a bad feeling.” Dennis replied quietly.

 

_He will protect us, Dennis. The Beast is what we’ve been working to become. Tomorrow, you’ll see. Everything will be worth it._

 

Dennis turned to his side, wishing he could turn from her as easily. “…Barry?” he whispered.

 

_What are you doing?_ Patricia hissed.

 

_W-what do you want, you troglodyte?_ came Barry’s weak response.

 

Stilling, Dennis said nothing. Better not to twist any of the knives in these wounds. Better to just leave Barry alone in the dark.

 

He sighed, and waited for the morning to come.

 

When it did, there was a tentative knock on the door. “Alright, Dennis?” James greeted him, watching him cautiously.

 

“Yeah.” Dennis rose. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

 

Dennis emerged moments later, in his customary black trousers and charcoal button up shirt. He was glad that James had been able to provide him attire that he approved of.

 

Anya handed him a plate with a perfectly symmetrically cut sandwich, and a neat pile of evenly sliced apple pieces. James had set everything in perfect alignment with the edges of the table, and both regarded Dennis nervously as he ate.

 

“You’re both expecting me to crumble, is that this is?” Dennis asked sternly, addressing the meal that was clearly meant to soothe his OCD. “Thank you for the breakfast, and the effort. Let’s get to it.”

 

A quick glance passed between Anya and James, and they nodded.

 

“First, we’re gonna watch ‘Unbreakable’. We’re… you’re not in it. But it’s important to the story.” Anya murmured. “We’ve got three movies to get through. And… and we’re here for you. And we are with you.”

 

Dennis was alarmed to see that she looked close to tears. _She’s really worried_ he thought, mostly to himself.

 

The first movie was… slow… but enjoyable. Dennis found himself relaxing into the couch, following the tale of a man who discovers that he is superhuman with ease. At its conclusion, he turned to the couple beside him on the couch, and said, “Well, Hedwig enjoyed that.”

 

“Right… well… onto ‘Split’.” James replied, haltingly.

 

Anya stood suddenly, and switched sides, so that she was sitting next to Dennis. James slid over onto the couch, filling the space that she had been, sitting next to Dennis on his other side.

 

“What’re you doing?” Dennis asked gruffly. The amount of concern they were showing was off-putting, as was the idea that they had planned the seating arrangement ahead of time, a coordinated effort of support.

 

“We just want you to know that we’re here for you, Dennis.” Anya whispered to him, and smiled softly.

 

Dennis blinked at her, and nearly returned the smile.

 

The movie began.

 

Dennis inhaled sharply. He knew that James was similar to him… but he wasn’t prepared for this. It was like a window to his soul. All of the careful planning that he and Patricia had put into gathering the sacred food for the Beast, all of it was right there, where it lay bare on the screen before him.

 

His cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as the Dennis on screen leaned against a doorway and roared to the oblivion, waving a hand uncontrollably, while the dark haired girl whispered that he had wanted her to dance for him, trying to pull her short skirt over her urine-drenched thighs. Dennis snuck a glance at James, and then one at Anya, but they both seemed to be focusing extra hard on the film, giving him his privacy in this moment of weakness. Dennis barely suppressed a shudder.

 

His stomach clenched when Hedwig graced the screen, and he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassment. Had they always looked so… sadly ridiculous? No wonder it was just them, alone, beneath the zoo. How Anya and James had managed to put up with the ridiculous alters around their apartment for what had turned into nearly a week, Dennis couldn’t understand.

 

His body tensed as he watched himself pretend to be Barry. _You bastard, pretending to be me!_ Barry screamed from the darkness within, and Dennis flinched. A warm hand curled into his left hand, and another curled into his right. He looked at the people sitting on either side of him, both of whom had taken one of his hands into their own, lending him their strength when he had faltered. Dennis was grateful for the support.

 

His heart dropped as the Beast emerged. He was… exactly that. A beast. He killed Doctor Fletcher, the kind old woman who had tried to help, but her help was just too slow for Dennis and Patricia’s taste. He ate of the flesh of the girls who had been fighting for their lives, the two that Dennis had been trailing in his reality for several days. Finally, the beast turned his terrible attention to Casey.

 

“Oh, James – mute!” Anya said suddenly, and James obeyed, aiming the remote at the screen and killing the sounds.

 

“Wh…what?” Dennis choked out, unable to break his eyes from the screen as Casey stared in open mouthed horror at the man climbing the walls. She was Anya’s double, but without the air of joy, and Dennis had watched her story unwind with growing horror mingling with the shock of how his story would apparently go.

 

The subtitles explained everything a moment later, as the words “Kevin Wendell Crumb?” flashed across the bottom of the screen, and the Beast dropped down. “Kevin Wendell Crumb!” The subtitles repeated, and suddenly Dennis was looking at Kevin’s mother, which caused a jolt of fear to twist its way up his spine. His breath was wrenched from his body, and he let out a soft gasp, earning his hand another small, supportive squeeze from Anya.

 

The sound came back on, and Dennis got to see the broken Kevin stumble out to confront Casey. His stomach twisted as Kevin begged for death before the others, Jade, Orwell, and Barry flashed to the light, trying to make things right.

 

“We aren’t helping him at all.” The man whispered, his hardened heart breaking, and the hands holding his own squeezed.

 

The movie finally ended, and Dennis sat in a stunned silence. He was at a loss for words, the images still playing in his brain. Everyone in his head was quiet, torn by what they had just seen.

 

 

“Ready for the next? One more to go, Dennis…” Anya asked him, soft as ever. He swung his head to her, his carefully empty blue eyes seeking her warm and pitying brown ones. “Almost through it.”

 

“I… I got… get…? The wrong girl… You… Casey shouldn’t be there at all.” Dennis murmurs, focusing on the brown haired waif to give his heart a moment to forget how sad and desperate Kevin had looked. “She’s out there, somewhere, right? In my world?”

 

James nodded. “She’s out there doing her best with what she’s been dealt.”

 

Dennis cleared his throat and nodded, mulling this over. “Let’s finish this.”

 

With that, “Glass” started.

 

If it had been hard to watch “Split”, then “Glass” was nearly impossible. Dennis felt his rigid posture collapsing as he curled into himself, and a strong arm was placed around his shoulder. He sent James a grateful look, as the man had put an arm around the alter, once again lending him some strength.

 

He was quietly proud to hear that Casey had escaped her abuser… it had taken him so long to escape his own. She looked like she might be happier – that was good.

 

On screen, Kevin took the light, and stayed with Casey until the end. Dennis blinked away someone’s tears – Barry’s, he thought. The movie went on, but everyone in his head was stuck on the image of life fading from their body, from Kevin’s body. “They’re all so scared.” Kevin had gasped with his last breaths, and then had shown his own strength; the strength that he never seemed to be able to summon any other time.

 

Credits rolled, and Dennis lurched off of the couch. He ran, stumbling, gasping, into the bathroom, and vomited until there was nothing to come up but saliva. Anya and James followed him, kneeling beside him on the cold tiles, and Anya pulled him into her lap on the floor. Dennis’s chest heaved as he cracked.

 

The light faded from Kevin’s eyes in his mind, and Dennis clung to Anya like a child. James sat opposite of them, hugging him as well. He was between the two, sheltered by their warmth and love, and Dennis felt tears spilling down his cheeks, unsure of whom the tears belonged to, not caring.

 

Kevin died. All of this… it just got Kevin killed.

 

Dennis moaned into the warm darkness of Anya’s shoulder, body shuddering, rejecting the images that had cut him deeper than anything that Kevin’s mother had tried to do.

 

Kevin dies at the end.

 

Barry sobbed openly, clawing at the people he hadn’t yet met, desperately needing their kindness.

 

The blood spilled over Kevin’s hands, and they died.

 

Hedwig bawled, loud, ugly tears, the kind that show a naked soul, the kind of tears that only a child is capable of producing.

 

Kevin held the light until the end.

 

Dennis grasped feebly for the light, grasped feebly for his friends, and darkness fell around his mind as they held him. He was dimly aware of Anya pressing a kiss to his temple, and was just able to note the small circles that James’s hands were tracing on his heaving back. Somewhere in the back of his aching head, he thought he heard Patricia humming sadly in an attempt to calm Hedwig.

 

“It’s too much… it’s my fault…” he choked out, and then stepped back from the light, taking everyone in his head with him, away from the pain.


	9. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya and James spend some time with Hedwig in the aftermath of watching the movies.

Chapter 9: Decisions

 

Dennis woke up once in the night, surprised to find himself on his bed. The last thing that he remembered was the cold bathroom floor beneath him, and two sets of arms wrapped around him as he faced the consequences of what he and Patricia had been about to put in motion.

 

He was more surprised to find that he wasn’t just remembering the double sets of arms; apparently James and Anya had decided to stay with him in his bedroom. James was asleep on Dennis’s left with one of his arms covering his face as he slept. Anya was curled up at Dennis’s right, her head nuzzled onto his chest, one hand lightly curled around a bit of his shirt at his chest.

 

The hurting man allowed himself a moment to feel, to really _feel_ the people offering _him_ support. He’d never had this – he was always the one guarding and taking the pain, filing it away, to be forgotten and never revisited. It was never okay for Dennis to actually feel.

 

Sighing, Dennis turned his attention inward. It was quiet around the light, but the feelings echoing around his head were morose. Except from Kevin… Kevin was still asleep. Good. He didn’t need to know what had almost happened. What they had almost caused.

 

Dennis’s stomach twisted again at the memory of the Kevin he had seen in the movies. Had they really done him any favors by trying to protect him so fiercely over the years? What would Kevin think if he were handed the light and met these two, James and Anya, who seemed to care?

 

_Everyone… let’s have a meeting_ Dennis announced in his head, struggling to maintain eye contact with the other twenty-one personalities that were awake and able to hear him. _Hedwig, you take the light. Have some ice cream with James or something. Time for the adults to talk._

Hedwig shifted sadly in his chair. _I don’t knooow… I wanna hear what’s goin’ on…_

The man who had borne the weight of their punishments over the years thought for a moment. _James and Anya are having a sleepover in our room._

The young alter bounced up and snatched the light from Dennis, who turned to face the rest of Kevin’s personalities.

 

Anya woke up when the body between hers and James’s started shuffling around restlessly in the bed. “Hm? You okay?” she asked, sleep muddling her brain and her speech.

 

“Shhhhhhh! It’s a _sleep_ over! You’ll wake up James!” Hedwig stage whispered, and then shimmied more until he was comfortable. In his movements, he had snuggled so that his full body was the little spoon to Anya. Brazen as ever, Hedwig reached over and pulled Anya’s arm over him, making her hold him.

 

In the dark, she smiled, and gave the overgrown child a squeeze before allowing sleep to take her again.

 

When sunlight finally began to creep into the guest room, Hedwig sat up abruptly and began bouncing a bit on the bed, rousing the two adults that he had been nestled between. “C’mon guys, Dennis said that we could have ice cream an’ stuff, et cetera.”

 

“Hedwig?” James asked, struggling to wake up fully.

 

“Uh, duh. C’mon let’s get uuuuuuuup…” Hedwig whined, tugging at James’s arm.

 

“Right, okay… here we go… gimme a sec, Hedwig, I haven’t had any coffee yet…”

 

“Come onnn….” Hedwig jumped off of the bed and now did a small dance of impatience next to the door.

 

As soon as Anya and James were both sitting up, rubbing sleep from their eyes and yawning, Hedwig darted out of the room, noisily making his way to the kitchen.

 

James blinked at Anya, then gave her a half smile and kissed her forehead. “Mornin’, love.”

 

She made a small sound of love deep in her throat, leaning into his kiss for a moment before getting out of bed. She turned to James before exiting the bedroom. “I’m a little surprised that we have Hedwig. I expected Dennis to double down after… after all of that.”

 

Shrugging, James got up and followed her to the kitchen.

 

They found Hedwig practically vibrating on one of the kitchen stools, eagerly waiting for them.

 

Anya stretched as she walked over to him, and she put a warm hand on Hedwig’s shoulder. “Hedwig, are you okay?”

 

Hedwig paused, and a fleeting look of sadness crossed his normally jubilant features.

 

“You know that it’s okay to be sad, right, Hedwig?” She asked him, her voice as warm and soothing as the hand that was still resting on his shoulder.

 

“But… Kevin is sad… and he never gets the light.” Hedwig whispered in response.

 

“I know… but that’s what the others seem to think he needs to not feel sad, right?” Anya replied, eyes searching his face, noting the slight trembling that had started in the child’s lower lip. She pulled him close to her, offering him a warm hug.

 

He rested his head on her shoulder, regarding James miserably as the actor approached them. “…I don’t wanna die…”

 

The sad statement was cold in the early morning sunlight, and Anya held him closer. James’s brow furrowed in the way that Dennis always wore his own, and James leaned close to the child in a man’s body that was shivering softly in Anya’s grasp. “It’ll be ok, mate. Really. We won’t let anything happen to you. Any of you.”

 

“P-promise?”

 

“Promise.” James made the motions of crossing his heart, then cupped a hand at the side of Hedwig’s face, feeling the morning stubble on Hedwig’s cheek. “Where’s Dennis gone to?”

 

“Mr. Dennis is talking to the others.” Hedwig brightened suddenly. “He said that I could stay in the light with you guys the whole time while they talk!”

 

“Well, we don’t wanna waste that, do we?” James smiled at him. “Let’s get to it! I believe that I heard a request for ice cream… how does that sound for breakfast?”

“YEAH!” Hedwig hollered; grinning and freeing himself from Anya’s grasp.

 

Anya rolled her eyes and went to the freezer. “Just remember that we need to have real food at some point today, _children_.”

 

James stuck his tongue out at her, and Hedwig mimicked him. The laughter from the three of them warmed the kitchen, and they set about having a nice day.

 

They were playing a game of Uno, some hours later, when James’s phone rang. He gave it an uncharacteristic frown when he glanced at the screen, and he excused himself to the bedroom for privacy. Anya’s eyes followed his back as he departed.

 

Hedwig put his cards down, and his face screwed into an expression of exaggerated discomfort. “Miss Anya?”

 

“Yeah, Hedwig?” She hadn’t noticed the change in the young alter immediately, as she was still looking at the hallway that James had disappeared down. When she pulled her attention to the present, concern filled her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

 

“The others wanna have the light. I gotta go. Bye!”

 

 The body that all of the personalities lived in went blank for a moment, then a cautious look appeared on the face that was so familiar to Anya.

 

“Hi… I’m Barry. Nice to meet you.” He offered a hand politely, and a slightly sad smile. “It only took watching basically the end of our world to get Dennis to give me back the light… soo… thanks for that?”

 

Anya took his strong hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, finally.”

 

Barry smiled and crossed his legs. “You are a pretty thing; no wonder Dennis held onto the light.” Seeing her discomfort at this statement, Barry ducked his head slightly and bit his lip. “Bad joke, I’m sorry.”

 

She nodded at him stiffly. “Dennis has been fine to me. To both of us.”

 

Sighing, Barry regarded her gently. Everything about his body seemed softer when it belonged to Barry, a startling contrast to the edges and rigidness that spun from Dennis’s core. He offered her a smile that was clearly meant to charm, then continued. “We all talked. We’re gonna work on… sharing the light. I thought that Dennis and Patricia deserved the dark…but after spending some time there myself… no one deserves that. No matter what.”

 

“I mean, isn’t that half of what causes everything? They were pushed aside and ridiculed… and they overreacted.”

 

He nodded back at her. “Yeah… I guess I’ve been a little selfish. It’s hard to let go of the light. I’ve tried really hard to build us some semblance of a life… and I have friends at work.”

 

“You do?” Anya asked. She blushed almost immediately. “Sorry… I just meant… Uhm…”

 

Barry laughed, a bright sound after an awkward moment. “It’s okay, babygurl. It’s not like I have people over… one look at our drab cave and people would run for the hills. I just have some people at work that I like to talk to, and sometimes we grab food. I usually turn down drinks… alcohol makes keeping the light a little more difficult.” He gave her a roguish wink, and Anya smiled easily.

 

_Already more comfortable with you than me, I see…_ Dennis murmured from the shadows of Barry’s mind.

 

Rolling his eyes, Barry sent Anya another gentle smile. “How’ve things been with Dennis?”

 

Anya blushed again. Barry’s outgoing personality seemed to make it hard _not_ to blush every four seconds. “It’s been good! He’s… he’s nice, once you get used to the quiet. He puts up with the movies that I put on. You know, he sat through ’17 Again’ without complaint?”

 

“Yeah… Dennis is basically a saint, right?” Barry chuckled at the bristling of the alter back in his brain. “He’s sharing the light a bit. I just wanted him to hear from you that you’re fine with him.”

 

“Oh! Of course… I thought that he’d know that by now.” Her slightly sad smile warmed Barry and Dennis’s heart. “So… what are you all thinking?”

 

Barry paused. The smile on his face faltered for a moment before he answered honestly. “We’re not sure. If we can get back home… we’re gonna talk to Dr. Fletcher. She’ll probably think we’ve lost it, but we were thinking, maybe volunteer to go to some of these talks she participates in? We’ve been hiding from the public, but maybe going public isn’t the worst thing. Basically what the beast did, but without the whole… eating young girls… thing…” He swallowed hard. “Also, we thought that Dr. Fletcher might be able to help Casey. That girl’s a tough cookie, and needs some help. Maybe we can convince her to get help without having to go all Hulk in front of her.”

 

The woman before him smiled warmly at him. “I think that’s a great idea. Really.”

 

“Aw, thanks, hun.” Barry smiled, then stood, and opened his arms. Anya followed suit and gave him a big hug. Barry was aware of Dennis taking note of the smell of flowers that was ever present in her hair. _You’re a little hopeless, you know that, right?_

 

_Like I need to be reminded,_ Dennis replied icily from his chair in their head.

 

A cleared throat made the two new friends pull away from their hug, and James re-entered the room, looking serious.

 

“James, this is _Barry_ , Dennis let him have the light; they’ve all had a talk…” Anya began, smiling at her lover.

 

“Right, nice to meet you.” James replied, distracted, still tapping at his phone. He turned to face Anya. “Got a bit of a situation, ‘Ya.”

 

“What’s going on?” she asked immediately, her focus turning entirely to James.

 

“Brendan’s coming here, tomorrow.”

 

“…what?” Anya gasped, eyes bouncing to Barry quickly before going back to James’s unusually stony face. “How?”

 

Barry was quietly amused to note that James, when upset, ran a hand through his hair in a very familiar way, though he kept the amusement from his face.

 

“ _She_ decided to drop into the states for a bit, and needs me to take him. I couldn’t say no… it’s an extra chance to see him…” James glanced at Barry then back to Anya. “This could be a mess.”

 

“Okay, sorry to interrupt, but _who_ is Brendan?” Barry inquired, smiling his most charming smile.

 

Anya and James looked at each other for a beat before James answered.

 

“My son.”

 

 

 


	10. Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jame's son arrives.

Chapter 10: Visitor

 

Barry blinked. “You… have a son? Dennis didn’t mention…”

 

James ran a hand through his hair again. “Yeah… we didn’t tell Dennis. My son wasn’t supposed to be back stateside to visit me for another four months… I didn’t think that you would still be here.”

 

There was nothing to be said, so Barry nodded. “Well, what do you want us to do? How old is he?”

 

“He’s three, and a great kid.”

 

“Great, we can’t wait to meet him then.”

 

James stared at Barry, nonplussed. “You can’t be serious.”

 

Dialing the charming in his smile up to ten, Barry said, “It’ll be fine. You said he’s three? I bet he won’t even blink about the fact that we look… similar. Three means magic is still a thing. He’ll be fine.”

 

“I guess… he can share the bed with Anya and me. He usually ends up there anyways; might as well cut out the middle man. That way you can keep your room. Maybe we can just… say you’re a friend.”

 

Anya bit her lip. “Will you guys be okay with a little one running around?” She turned to James. “How long do we have him for?”

 

“Bout a week, ‘Ya. It’ll… it’ll have to be fine.” He looked at Barry. “Maybe… Hedwig should stay under wraps. I’m sure he’d love the kid, but he’s just so big…” he trailed off.

 

“Totally understood. This will be fine. I work at a zoo, remember? Lots of kids.” Barry flashed him a reassuring smile. “We’ve got this.”

 

James, Anya, and Barry had a quiet dinner, and Anya set about child-proofing the apartment afterwards, placing small locks on cabinets that held cleaning supplies, moving anything particularly fragile out of the main shared living areas. Barry helped her as much as he could, chatting with her, getting to know her. James retired early, his mood never really improving.

 

“He’s always a little uptight where the ex is involved.” Anya whispered to Barry after James had departed.

 

The next morning, James left early for the airport, and returned an hour later.

 

“Heyyyy, look who made it here!” He announced jovially as he came through the apartment door.

 

A miniature version of him followed, wearing khakis and a pull over, wheeling a small, blue piece of luggage behind him. The boy looked around the apartment, a small smile on his minute features. “ANYA!” he crowed happily once he’d spotted her, and dropped his luggage, running into her outstretched arms.

 

Anya picked him up and spun as she hugged him, before setting him back safely onto his feet and straightening his hair. “Bren, how are you? It’s been a bit since I’ve seen you!”

 

“I’m well, thanks.” Brendan replied in a chirruping voice. “Mum and I had a long flight. I drew you a picture!” the boy turned back to his luggage, but caught sight of Barry, who had been standing slightly back, allowing his hosts their space. “Who are you?”

 

Barry approached, smiling, and looked at the little boy. Brendan turned craned his head to look at Barry’s face, looking a little confused, and Barry saw that the boy shared James’s eyes – bright blue and inquisitive.

 

Patricia slipped into the light smoothly, holding her breath as she examined the boy for a moment. She kneeled before him, and James was startled to see that she was blinking back tears. “Hello, little duck. My name is Patricia.”

 

Ever the little gentleman, Brendan offered her a hand. “Isn’t ‘Patricia’ a girl’s name? I’ve never met a boy named Patricia…”

 

She smiled at him, a surprisingly warm expression coming from the normally cool alter. “But that’s my name; I have no control over that.”

 

Brendan nodded, accepting this. “You look like my da, you know that, Patricia?”

 

“Yes, we had noticed that.” She replied softly, eyes never leaving his face.

 

James cleared his throat, stepping next to his son and putting a hand on his small shoulder. “Let’s get you settled in, yeah?”

 

“Alright!” Brendan followed his father happily, and with that, the moment had passed.

 

Patricia stood and watched their retreating backs, and wiped tears from her eyes.

 

“Are you alright?” Anya asked her, quietly alarmed by the reactions that she was seeing.

 

Turning away from her, Patricia drifted to the couch, and sat primly at the edge. She blinked rapidly, raising her eyes to the ceiling, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. “He is a wonderful child, isn’t he?”

 

Anya followed her, sitting slightly away from her. “Yeah. He’s really a great kid… we love when he can come over, or when we can see him…”

 

“He’s… so like _Kevin_ at that age. The big blue eyes, the careful politeness… of course, Brendan seems much happier… but… oh…” Patricia’s shoulders shook, and she felt the tears spill onto her cheeks. She met Anya’s wide brown eyes. “When his father left, Kevin’s mother lost any semblance of maternal care. Dennis was there for the physical protection, of course… But Dennis doesn’t know how to comfort a crying, hurt child. That’s where I came in, to soothe an aching heart.”

 

Her heart breaking, Anya put a tentative hand on the woman’s quivering shoulders.

 

“I know that I must be like a monster to all of you… but I was the one singing him songs and telling little Kevin stories to help him forget the real monster; the one who was supposed to love him.” Sniffling slightly, Patricia forced a watery smile. “It’s just a bit of a startle, seeing a small Kevin again.”

 

The women sat in silence, waiting for the little boy and his father to return, both lost in their thoughts.

 

The day passed quickly with the child in the apartment, his small voice filling the corners that hadn’t seemed empty until his arrival filled them. Patricia stayed in the light, seeming to quietly relish every moment that she had with the boy. Anya and James relaxed after seeing how much Patricia seemed to care, exclaiming over every drawing, listening intently to every small story, and occasionally ruffling Brendan’s hair affectionately.

 

When Anya, James, and Brendan had gone to bed – much earlier than the adults were used to, but they understood that Brendan would need them there to wind down from the exciting day – Patricia seated herself on the couch, and allowed Dennis to take the light from her.

 

“Having fun, Mary Poppins?” he asked under his breath, reaching for a novel that had been left on the end table.

 

_He’s an extraordinary child, Dennis._

“Hmm.” Dennis flipped through the book.

 

_Did you ever imagine we’d get to see what a child of Kevin’s would look like? It’s a miracle._ She was lost in memories of the day with the boy, mingled with long buried memories of a small Kevin. In their head, Patricia ran a hand over the head of the sleeping Kevin, where he was tucked safely away from the light that had so burned him.

 

“No. We’re not baby people.” The stern alter muttered, quietly amused at the idea of them attempting to raise a child. “We can barely keep it together to keep Hedwig’s mice alive.”

 

The woman tutted in his head, making a thin smile curl his lips.

 

“Patricia?” came a small voice from the hallway.

 

Sitting up and removing Dennis’s glasses from her face, Patricia turned towards the source. Brendan was in dinosaur pajamas, hair tousled, rubbing sleep from one eye with a small fist. “What is it, darling?”

 

“I can’t sleep, but da and Anya are sleeping.”

 

She patted the couch beside her. “Shall I tell you a story?”

 

He nodded and approached, climbing onto the couch and settling against Patricia. His blue eyes focused on hers as he waited for her to begin.

 

Patricia pulled a soft blanket from the back of the couch, tucking it around their legs, and put an arm around his narrow shoulders.

 

“Once upon a time, there was a princess, named Janet. She went for a walk in her father’s kingdom, and found a hilly space with roses growing. Janet found a double rose, and picked it, meaning to bring it home with her.

 

But as soon as it had come from the ground, a handsome man sprang out with it. He introduced himself as Tam Lin, and they spent the afternoon together in the sun.

 

When Janet went home, her father spoke to her, meek and mild, and told her that she was pregnant--”

 

“How would he know?” Brendan asked, his attention rapt.

 

“Fathers always know, don’t they, love? Shall I continue?”

 

Brendan nodded, settling against her once again, letting her words wash over him.

 

“Janet told her father that the baby didn’t belong to any of the knights in his hall, and then went back to Tam Lin. She asked him how he had come to live under the double rose, and he told her that he once was an esteemed knight, but he had fallen from his horse one afternoon, and the Queen of Fairies had grabbed him, and was holding him captive. The evil queen was holding him captive, planning to pay a tithe… sort of a tax… to hell. She was going to use his soul as payment; otherwise the Queen would have to use her own soul as payment.”  


The child was listening, blue eyes wide, completely lost in the story.

 

“But Janet was in luck, because it was Halloween. On Halloween, you see, the fairy folk can ride with the mortals, and, because he had been a renowned knight, the Queen allowed Tam Lin to ride in the fairy parade, out of respect. Tam Lin told Janet that, if she could pull him off of the white horse that he would be riding, he could be free, but only if she could keep a hold of him while the Queen of Fairies turned him into all sorts of terrible animals. What kind of animals do you think she turned him into?”

 

Thinking for a moment, Brendan offered, “A bear?”

 

Patricia nodded indulgently. “Yes, very good. A great bear. And how about a tiger! What do those sound like?”

 

Grinning, Brendan curled his small fingers into claws and roared at Patricia, giggling.

 

“How about a snake? The Fairy Queen would surely turn him into a snake.”

 

“SSssssssss…” Brendan hissed, then laughed.

 

“Alright, that’s three animals… how about one more, something really disgusting, to try to get Tam Lin away from his Janet?”

 

“How about… a great big hairy spider!”

 

“Perfect. So Janet pulled down Tam Lin from his white horse, and clung to him as the queen turned him into a bear, a tiger, a snake, and then a spider. After he had been a terrible, hairy spider, the Fairy Queen saw that Janet loved him, and would not let go, so Tam Lin was turned into back into a man in Janet’s arms.

 

The queen knew she was defeated, and before she had to use her own soul to pay her tithe, she spoke to Janet and Tam Lin. ‘Had I known but yesterday what I know today, I’d have taken out your two grey eyes, and put in eyes of clay. And had I know but yesterday, that you’d no more be my own, I’d have taken out your heart of flesh, and put in one of stone.’

 

With that, the Queen disappeared, and Janet and Tam Lin lived happily ever after.”

 

_Great children’s story_. _What next, a spirited rendition of “Night of the Living Dead”?_ Barry muttered in Patricia’s skull.

 

_Tam Lin is a classic story, a Scottish ballad from 1549, though Patricia has obviously taken some liberties with the tale…_ Orwell began, but was shushed by the other personalities before he could launch into a soliloquy on it.

 

“I liked that story, Patricia.” Brendan yawned.

 

“Mhmm, I like it too. Thank you, Brendan. How about some quiet time now.” With that, Patricia began to hum softly, stroking his hair. Soon enough, the sturdy little boy’s body grew warm and heavy, and his head lolled onto Patricia’s chest as he slept.

 

Patricia reveled in the feeling of the child sleeping, trusting her, comforted by her presence. It had been years since she’d been able to provide more than a passing comfort to anyone, though Hedwig occasionally needed to be hummed to sleep, especially if there was a thunder storm echoing above their apartments.

 

_We oughta get him to bed before they wake up and think we kidnapped him_ Dennis told Patricia.

 

“Yes, I suppose you’re right, Dennis. I’m afraid I’ll wake him, though… would you mind…?”

 

She stepped back from the light, and Dennis stepped forward. He picked up the boy carefully, as if he weighed nothing, and quietly slipped into James’s room. There was a small nest of blankets between the two adults, and Dennis carefully laid Brendan there, pulling a blanket up to cover the child.

 

Dennis allowed himself a moment to regard the scene before him: James, who looked so like him, sleeping peacefully beside a miniature version of himself, with Anya on the other side of the child, sleeping soundly. A family that had decided to include his broken psyche; could Dennis, or Kevin, or any of them ever have anything like this?

 

Before meeting Anya and James, he never would’ve thought it, but the world was a different place than he had expected.

 

 


	11. Trouble in Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Anya have a fight.

Chapter 11: Trouble in Paradise

 

The next day, James and Brendan were in the study, pouring over a large illustrated book of fairy tales. James had retrieved it from a shelf after Brendan had tried to tell him the tale of Tam Lin, asking Patricia to help fill in some of the blanks. Father and son were now reading tales from Hans Christian Anderson, treating each story with reverence.

 

Anya smiled at Dennis, who had slipped into the light for a moment while the boy was out of the room. “Patricia is really great with him, you know.”

 

Dennis nodded, wiping the counter down. He liked the kid, but he made a mess. Crumbs everywhere. He had finally gotten the apartment close to perfect before the arrival of Brendan.

 

A buzzing drew his attention. “That your phone?” he asked Anya, gesturing to the phone at the end of the counter.

 

“Nope, that’s James’s.” Anya replied, glancing at the phone. The ringing stopped, then immediately began again. Biting her lip, she reached for it. “Oh damn, it’s his ex… hold on… Hello?” Anya answered the phone tentatively, not wanting it to go to voicemail a second time. “Yeah, of course he’s around – they’re in the study, reading. Hold on, I’ll get--”

 

Anya was cut off by the voice on the other end, and she listened. “Okay, well… Today, we’re all going to a museum that’s supposed to be great with kids… Wednesday, the boys are going to have a day out together, you know, father-son time. No, I don’t need to be with them every minute; they get their time to bond. Thursday we’re going to the park… then Friday he’s yours again…”

 

She listened for a bit, and then offered to get James again. The offer was apparently declined as Anya said, “Alright, bye then.” She hung up.

 

“Who was that, ‘Ya?” James asked, having dislodged himself from the study and quietly entered the kitchen, unbeknownst to her.

 

“Your ex; she just wanted to know what the plan was for the week…” Anya trailed off as James’s eyes narrowed.

 

“And you just felt like sharing with her, not getting me?” his voice was cool and clipped; making Dennis freeze. Dennis had never heard that tone from the man.

 

Blinking, aware that she had somehow stepped into something, Anya replied, “Well, I offered to get you, but she just wanted an answer… I didn’t see the harm in telling her; she _is_ Brendan’s mother…”

 

“Right, because she always tells me everything that she’s doing with him. I love it when she checks in to get a schedule, not that she ever provides me with one.” James glared at his phone, which was still in Anya’s hand. “Can I have that, or would you like to schedule a lunch with her?” He reached out a demanding hand across the void, impatiently waiting for his phone to be placed in it.

 

A look of hurt was on Anya’s face as she handed the phone to the abnormally cold James. “James, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to overstep…”

 

“Then maybe just leave the parenting to the parents.” He snapped, turning from her and stalking away, leaving her blinking rapidly in the kitchen, reeling from the interaction.

 

Dennis looked at her, concerned. “What was that?” he wondered aloud, breaking the stunned silence that was left in James’s wake.

 

Anya glanced at him, but seemed unable to look him in the face. “He just… gets a little chippy about his ex. Things aren’t great with them, so… yeah. No worries.” She drew a hand across her eyes quickly, and sent him a smile that seemed to be directed just over Dennis’s shoulder, before leaving him alone in the kitchen, retreating to the bedroom.

 

Brendan came out of the study, laughing as he ran towards Patricia, who picked him up and gave him a swing through the air. She took note as James slipped into the bedroom that Anya had just disappeared into, and quietly shut the door behind him.

 

Patricia set Brendan up with some crayons and paper in the kitchen, despite Dennis’s quiet protest that the child was surely going to leave marks on his clean linoleum. Debating for a moment, Patricia allowed curiosity to win, and quietly approached the door to James’s bedroom. Once she was close, she could hear James’s stern tones overlapping Anya’s increasingly apologetic sounding ones.

 

“—didn’t mean to start trouble James, really--” Anya was saying.

 

“I know you didn’t mean to, but it’s not like this is a new thing, Anya. I deal with her, not you; you know this. It’s just going to be something ugly down the road, and I just don’t have it in me to keep trying to soothe his mother. She’d love nothing more than to have me cut out of his life, and I _won’t_ let that happen.”

 

“I know, James… I’m sorry…”

 

“Yeah. Well, I guess we just see what happens next.” He spat his words at her bitterly.

 

There was a pause, and then Anya spoke softly, barely above a whisper. “Maybe… maybe I should go home for a bit. Leave you boys to it for a while. I can’t screw anything else up if I’m not here, right?”

 

Silence for a beat, until James replied, sounding carefully nonchalant. “Maybe that’s a good idea.”

 

Patricia swore she heard a sniffle before Anya’s voice piped up again. “Alright, then, that’s easy. I’ll just head out. Why don’t you just… give me a call when you’re ready for me to come back.”

 

Dennis took the light from Patricia, alarmed by what they had overheard. He’d never heard James or Anya argue before, and his heart felt made of ice. It hurt to realize that even they were not always happy, despite what they had tried so hard to show him. Rationally, he knew that they must fight sometimes, but he hadn’t expected the sudden switch from happy to unhappy.

 

The bedroom door suddenly opened, and Dennis froze like a deer in headlights as the two adults in the room stared at him. Anya’s eyes were red and full of tears, and James’s were made of ice and rage; in their argument, James had finally shown how his eyes could truly be identical to Dennis’s.

 

“Awesome. Great timing. Why don’t you go on with Anya, maybe leave me and my boy some privacy, huh?” James snapped at him, not breaking eye contact.

 

Designed to take any blows, Dennis regarded him coolly, keeping his face carefully blank. He looked at Anya. “You okay?”

 

She nodded, eyes not meeting his. “I’m gonna go home for a bit.”

 

“He knows; he heard. What do you say, _Dennis_ , mind getting out of here for a bit?” When James hissed Dennis’s name, there was a painful level of acid.

 

“How am I supposed to leave?” Dennis asked him patiently.

 

James grabbed a pair of sunglasses and a hoody from his bureau, and shoved them at him. “Both of you, take the service elevator. Dennis, say nothing to anyone. Just… go.”

 

Finally dropping his gaze, James pushed past his double, joining his son in the kitchen.

 

“Are we really going?” Dennis murmured to Anya, wanting nothing more than to gather her to him, but she seemed incapable of looking at him. In his chest, Patricia’s heart contracted, not wanting to leave the child that she had become so fond of.

 

“Yup… if he wants us out, fuck it. Let’s go. He’ll calm down, but I’m not going to put up with this bullshit over answering a phone call. C’mon.” She tugged on Dennis’s sleeve, leading him down the hallway, towards the front door.

 

“Anya? Patricia?” Brendan saw them at the door. “Where are you going?”

 

Anya forced a smile for him. “Out for a bit, Bren. I’ve got a couple things to do, and I’m gonna borrow your friend for a while. You get to stay and have some fun with your dad, ‘kay?”

 

The little boy nodded, and wrapped a hug around her legs, then gave Dennis a similar hug. He could feel Patricia basking in the small, loving gesture, but Dennis held onto the light. The man felt that he needed to protect Anya and himself from James’s baleful gaze.

 

“We’re heading out, James.” Anya called to her partner, who had only come about halfway to the door from the kitchen.

 

James nodded at her in a dismissive manner. “Okay. Drive safe.”

 

She blinked unwanted tears from her eyes, and squared her shoulders, unwilling to show him any more of her pain. “Bye.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged. “Bye. Have fun with… _Patricia_ …”

 

Dennis met his eyes, and saw that the rage that had been burning had finally gone out. Now he saw a sort of stubborn resolution, barely covering some pain. He inclined his head towards James in a curt nod, and pulled the door open. “Shall we?” he directed to Anya.

 

Taking another moment to stare at James, as if hoping that he would take it back, Anya nodded, ducked her head, and slipped out the door past him. Dennis stepped out behind her, not bothering to turn back; instead, he pulled the door shut behind them with a final, resonating click.

 

 


	12. Change of Scenery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya takes Dennis someplace new.

Chapter 12: A Change of Scenery

 

They made it onto the service elevator before Anya began to cry quietly.

 

Dennis stepped to her, meaning to hold her, but she shook her head. “No, Dennis. Sorry, just… no.” her eyes, pools of sadness, flicked towards him then bounced away as if burnt, and she crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly instead of accepting his strength.

 

He pressed his lips together tightly, nodded, and stepped back to his side of the elevator. He turned his eyes to the floor numbers that counting down on the small screen above the door while she sniffled beside him.

 

When the door opened at last, she led him to her car, a large black hatchback SUV. She handed him the key fob. “Do you mind driving?”

 

Noting how her hands shook, Dennis took the key from her, and slid into the driver’s seat while she climbed into the passenger seat. Anya plugged her phone in, and programmed an address into the GPS.

 

Dennis began driving, hands carefully at ten and two o’clock, following the speed limit, allowing his attention to be absorbed by the task of keeping the vehicle out of harm’s way. Anya leaned her head against the passenger window, still not looking at him. The radio was playing softly behind the automated directions; the only sound in the otherwise heavy atmosphere of the SUV.

 

They drove for about 45 minutes, leaving the bustling city behind, entering a more rural area. He followed the GPS’s instructions along an increasingly isolated and winding road before he was alerted that the destination was approaching.

 

A modest house sat back from the road, painted grey, looking slightly forlorn. “Home sweet home.” Anya muttered, getting out of the car. Dennis followed suit.

 

She let them in, casually avoiding a small buildup of mail on the front carpet. Glancing back and seeing Dennis taking note of the mail, she explained that she normally has someone airing out the house, cutting the lawn, and bringing her mail to her, but that person was on vacation, and she’d forgotten to get a replacement in the meantime.

 

During all of this, Anya couldn’t bring herself to meet Dennis’s eyes.

 

He crossed the foyer, wandering to the back of the house, admiring the view of the trees from her back windows. He was aware of her stepping beside him, still keeping her distance.

 

“Do you want me to go somewhere else?” He asked her evenly, though it hurt to offer. He wanted to be here, with her. He just didn’t want her to have to put up with him if she didn’t want him there.

 

She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry… I know it’s not fair to you, but you just look _so much_ like him, and it’s kinda… hard to look at you…” she finished lamely, forcing her eyes to his for a moment before letting them drop again.

 

He nodded, knowing this was true.

 

_Say something, you oaf!_ Barry commanded.

 

“…do you want Barry?” Dennis offered, but she sniffled and shook her head immediately.

 

“Barry is a little full contact. If you don’t mind me being a bit miserable, I’d like it if you could stay with me… please.”

 

Resisting the urge to hold her for the hundredth time, Dennis inclined his head to indicate that he would stay as long as she wanted him to.

 

They stood at the window, regarding the trees that quietly swayed in a gentle breeze for a long time, letting the day pass them by. Dennis listened to the wind and rustling, unaccustomed to the lack of city noise. He tried to remember if he had ever been someplace so serene… but serenity wasn’t something that his past held much of.

 

Anya ended up wrapping a blanket from a small couch in her living room around her shoulders before settling into an oversized easy chair and turning on the television. She stared at it, unblinking, lost in her own misery.

 

Dennis sat on a couch, and watched her carefully. She was so lost in her own head that she didn’t even notice. Her sadness had made her even more beautiful to him, and he couldn’t help but stare.

 

“What can I do?” He finally asked her, needing her to say something.

 

Raising a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, Anya murmured, “Nothing.” She closed her eyes briefly, collecting herself. “Thank you for being here… not that you had a choice.”

 

Dennis nodded at her, wanting to tell her that of course he was there, that he cared, that he wanted the fight with James to be over, but not knowing how to make the words come out. He settled on silence, hoping she would know.

 

She gave him a watery smile, quick to fade, and turned her face back to the television.

 

After a few episodes of one show or another had played out, Anya let out a shaky sigh. “I… need a shower. I just need this day to be over. Mind if I go…?” Dennis shook his head, and she disappeared up a small staircase, the sound of running water soon following.

 

A buzzing caught his attention, and Dennis saw James’s face lighting up Anya’s phone. He sighed – _do either of them actually remember to keep their phones on them?_ – and reached for it. “Hello.” He answered curtly.

 

“…Dennis?”  James’s voice croaked in his ear.

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Where’s Anya?”

 

Resisting the urge to ask him why he cared, Dennis chose to tell the truth. “She’s in the shower. Upstairs.”

 

“Has she… have you… Is she okay?” James inquired earnestly, his voice sounding hollow and small in Dennis’s ear.

 

Dennis pinched the bridge of his nose before replying. “She’s miserable, James. She can’t even look at me, because I look like you.”

 

There was a shaky sigh on the other end of the phone. “I’ve been such a fucking moron.”

 

Dennis said nothing, internally agreeing. He also felt that James had been a fucking moron.

 

“Do you mind giving her the phone?” James requested softly.

 

“…she’s in the shower.”

 

“Have you tried knocking on doors before? It’s a great way to get someone’s attention.” He replied, and Dennis thought he detected the hint of a smile in James’s voice.

 

“Will this chat go better than the last?”

 

There was a pause from the other end. “I deserve that.” James said finally. “I’m sorry. Please, give her the phone, so I can tell her… I have to talk to her.”

 

Dennis exhaled briefly, and then followed the sound of water up the stairs until he found himself knocking at a closed door, ignoring the soft sounds of crying from the other side of the door.

 

Anya cleared her throat, choking back tears, before answering through the door. “I’m… I’m about to get in the shower, Dennis. Now’s not a great time.”

 

“You have a phone call.” He stated simply.

 

“Is it…?” Her voice trailed off, tentative and guarded.

 

“James.” Dennis confirmed.

 

The door cracked, and he had a glimpse of her eyes, red and puffy, and the worn bathrobe that she had wrapped tightly around her small frame. She reached for the phone, and put it to her ear. “James?”

 

Her eyes flicked up to meet Dennis’s briefly, and she quietly closed the door.

 

Dennis went back downstairs to wait, ignoring the television, just waiting; hoping that she would be okay.

 

After what felt like an eternity, Anya came downstairs, spirits improved somewhat. “James said he’s sorry. To both of us. He wanted us to come back tonight, but I told him that a day apart wouldn’t kill us.”

 

She caught Dennis’s surprised glance at that, and she smiled. “It’s boys one-oh-one, Dennis. You can’t just run back right when they call. Besides, I don’t feel like being in the car again right now. Do you mind if we just go back tomorrow?”

 

“No. It’s nice to have a change of scenery.” He answered honestly. Even though she had been unhappy for most of the time they had together today, Dennis had still enjoyed being around her, just the two of them.

 

Anya smiled at him, the first time she had truly met his eyes and held them with her own in hours.

 

“Don’t you have some terrible movie to torture me with?” He asked her, teasing gently, and she giggled at him, a sound that warmed his heart and eased the tension from his shoulders. She plopped down onto the couch beside him, and they selected a movie, breathing easier than they had all day.

 

The tension had taken a toll on Anya, and she fell asleep during the movie. Dennis didn’t realize that she had until he felt her slump gently against him, her head lolling onto one of his shoulders. He fought a short internal battle before carefully pulling her on top of him, while he stretched out onto the couch to lie down.

 

Anya murmured something in her sleep, but did not wake.

 

With her snuggled onto him, Dennis pulled a blanket over them, and risked pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He inhaled deeply, lingering over the smell of flowers that always seemed to cling to her, surrounding her like a halo.

 

He could sense Barry lurking around his mind, ready to intervene. Choosing to ignore him, Dennis wrapped his arms around her, allowing himself to enjoy this moment with a warm girl in his arms. He stroked her thick brown hair, tangling his hand in it, relishing the gentle rise and fall of her chest against his own.

 

Sighing with something approaching happiness, Dennis relaxed, and let sleep cast its cloak around both of them.


	13. Full Circle

Chapter 13: Full Circle

 

Anya woke up when the morning sun began to trickle in, and was momentarily confused by her surroundings. She was comfortable and warm, but froze when she remembered that she was here with Dennis, not James.

 

She turned her head to face the man stretched out beneath her, and found that he was already awake, regarding her with a seemingly impassive expression. His blue eyes bore into her own brown eyes for a moment before he said, “good morning, Anya” in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

 

His arms were around her, and her voice caught in her throat before she returned the salutation, casting her mind back desperately, looking for any memories that would betray James. She didn’t think anything had happened, but here she was, in Dennis’s arms…

 

Dennis seemed to read her mind, and released her from his grasp, sighing. “Nothing happened. You fell asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you. Yesterday was… rough… for you, so I thought that you needed the sleep.”

 

The words were a relief to her, and she smiled at him as she sat up. “And I guess you just hated having to sleep on the couch with me?”

 

Studying her face, reading her expression as playful, Dennis allowed a small smile to break across his usually stern mouth, and gave a small nod. “It was unbearable.”

 

They packed themselves into the car, agreeing to stop someplace on the way home for a bite. Once they were actually on the road, Anya seemed to grow increasingly impatient, just wanting to be back at James’s. Dennis took this in stride as he drove, bidding the small house a silent farewell.

 

Soon enough, they found themselves at the door to James’s apartment. Anya bit her lip before tucking her key into the lock, shooting Dennis a glance that seemed to say “well, here goes nothing”.

 

The door swung open to reveal James and Brendan sitting at the kitchen island, bowls of cereal in front of them. Both looked over when the door opened, and both faces broke into smiles, though James’s was a cautious one.

 

Brendan hopped down from his stool and ran to Anya and Dennis. “Hi! I missed you!” he exclaimed, full of buoyant energy.

 

Anya dropped to her knees before the child and hugged him. “I missed you too!” she kissed his forehead before standing, watching carefully as James approached slowly.

 

Dennis was given another hug around his legs by the boy, and he allowed Patricia the light for a moment. “Hello, little duck. I missed you too.” She assured the child warmly, hugging him.

 

James stood before Anya, running a nervous hand through his hair. He had shadows under his eyes, Dennis noted. That was good – after yesterday, Dennis felt that a night of shoddy sleep was the least of what James had coming to him.

 

“Anya… I’m so sorry about yesterday. I let myself get carried away, and that wasn’t fair to you.” He reached out to her, stroking her cheek gently. “I love you.”

 

Tears welled in her eyes as Anya closed the gap between them, leaning her forehead against his. “I love you too. It’s okay.”

 

“No, it’s not, but I want to make it okay. I won’t do that again… the night without you was torture. I never want us to go through that again.” James murmured this, slowly draping his arms around the woman that he loved, pulling her gently into his embrace. His eyes caught Dennis’s. “Hey, mate… I’m sorry to you too. I was a bit of a tosser yesterday, and you didn’t deserve to be caught in that either.”

 

“I’ve survived worse.” Dennis replied, meaning it.

 

“I shouldn’t have made either of you feel like you had to go. Anya… I love you. I got carried away, and I was too bloody stubborn to recant. And… ah… Patricia… you, and everyone in you, belong here. We like having you here.”

 

Anya nodded emphatically, flashing the horde a smile.

 

Barry stepped into the light for a moment, as Dennis didn’t know how to put their feelings into actual words. “Thanks for giving us an actual _home_. It’s… something we haven’t had.” In their head, the personalities nodded in agreement.

 

_Home_.

 

James accepted this, and then turned back to Anya, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. He stepped back and reached a hand out to Brendan. “Hey, little man, got that thing that I gave you to hold on to?”

 

Brendan grinned at his father and dug a small black box out of his pocket. He handed it to James while Anya stared, brown eyes widening.

 

“James… what…?” she asked breathlessly, and James smiled at her.

 

Still smiling, he kneeled onto one knee, and opened the box that his son had handed him. In it, a diamond ring glittered in the sunlight.

 

“Anya, will you marry me?” He asked, blue eyes not leaving her face.

 

Her hands came up to her mouth, and she nodded, speechless, before dropping to the floor with him, wrapping her arms around him, laughing and kissing his mouth between exclamations of “Yes!”

 

James wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her against him, kissing her deeply as he stood them up. He slipped the ring onto her finger, and turned to grin at Dennis. “Thanks for being here for this. I wanted to do this with you here… you belong with us.”

 

Tears of joy filling her eyes, Anya managed, “Oh James… Den… Patricia, are you okay?”

 

Dennis was speechless, completely devoid of words. They were so happy… and… he was happy for them, he realized. He was glad to be here, glad to have been privy to this moment. He returned James and Anya’s smile with one of his own. A smile of _their_ own, because now everyone in his body was radiating joy towards the newly engaged couple.

 

Brendan wrapped a hug around Dennis’s legs, and Anya and James approached him, reaching for him.

 

Dennis found himself wrapped in his first group hug, and the warmth spilled from their hearts to his. He felt the boy hugging him. Anya’s kiss was pressed to his cheek, damp from her tears of joy. James laughed and also pressed a kiss to Dennis’s other cheek, laughing harder at the expression of surprise on Dennis’s face.

 

It was a perfect moment that Dennis never wanted to let go of.

 

There was so much… Dennis was light headed with joy.

 

So light headed… He swayed for a minute, and then he stumbled. Everything went black, and Dennis felt his ears pop.

 

Dennis dropped his hands loudly onto a table, eyes clenched shut. He felt nauseous.

 

Opening his eyes a crack, he found himself standing at his kitchen table, in his basement apartment at the zoo. He let out a shaky breath, mind racing as he tried to remember what he had been doing.

 

_Dennis, try not to be late._ Patricia snapped at him, anxious. _We have so much to do; now is_ not _the time for any error._

He looked around, confused. He would’ve sworn that his cheeks were warm and damp, and he could almost feel arms around his legs. It was like he had been in a hug, in a loving embrace—

 

_Mr. Dennis?_ Hedwig asked quietly in his mind.

 

“Yeah?” Dennis queried, trying to remember… it felt like something important was slipping away.

 

_I had a dream that we were all really happy. Even you._

 

“Thanks.” Dennis brushed his thoughts aside, and checked the watch at the inside of his wrist. When had it gotten so late? He felt completely out of whack.

 

Dennis found himself in a car, the spoiled impure rendered unconscious in the seat behind him, preparing to drive them to meet the beast, when the door-ajar alarm went off. He turned his gaze and found a brown haired girl who was staring at him sadly, one tear rolling down her cheek from her large doe eyes.

 

_Her hair smells like flowers,_ he thought randomly. _She likes to watch terrible movies with me._

 

_What are you doing, Dennis? Get the situation under control._  Patricia ordered.

 

Dennis locked the girl’s eyes with his own, pulling the mask over his face, pushing away the speculation of how soft her lips would be against his own. A memory tried to surface, of this girl, dancing in the sunlight of a grand apartment, but Dennis cut it off, and sprayed her with his canister of sleep.

 

He didn’t have time to think about pretty girls dancing. He had important work to do. Besides, he was trying to be good.

 

Later on, much later, was he quietly relieved to discover that the doe-eyed girl had survived the Beast? Yes. Some part of him couldn’t handle the idea of her hurting; just wanted to hear her laugh… not that he would ever be able to cause a happy reaction. Not that he had ever actually heard her laughter, but he imagined that it would be like tinkling bells, able to light up any room.

 

And when the end came for the horde, and Kevin held the light until the end, was Dennis glad to see those brown eyes and smell the flowers that were in her hair, thankful for her hands holding his?

 

Of course he was.

 

-FIN-

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this story! This is the first thing that I've written in... probably a decade, and it's one of the first stories that I've been able to actually finish. I am sorry that it's done, and that I couldn't leave it on a happier note... but I did try to give Dennis, Hedwig, and Patricia a little bit of sunshine (...even if it got erased in the end). I wish they could have a happy ending, but I never really see them getting one when I think it through. 
> 
> I appreciate all of your kudos and comments - they encouraged me to keep going! Big thanks to zerousy and smithbabe65 for your basically clockwork feedback - I looked forward to it anytime that I updated.
> 
> Keep tryin' to be good!


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